MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev rallied from two sets down to beat Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0 in a 4-hour, 23-minute second-round Australian Open match that ended at 3:39 a.m. local time.
“Tough, tough tough," Medvedev, a two-time Australian Open finalist, said of the late finish.
It certainly was a tough night for the tournament's No. 3 seeds.
Medvedev walked onto Rod Laver Arena at 11:07 p.m. Thursday after Elena Rybakina lost the longest tiebreaker ever in a women’s Grand Slam event, 22-20 to Anna Blinkova.
And so Day 5 of the Australian Open finished on a Friday, even with the extra Sunday added to the start of the tournament and the first round being split over three days.
It was the latest finish so far this year, but not close to the tournament record. Andy Murray finished off Thanasi Kokkinakis just after 4 a.m. last year in a second-round match that lasted 5 hours, 45 minutes.
And that was only good enough for second place. The latest-finishing match in Grand Slam history ended with Lleyton Hewitt beating Marcos Baghdatis at 4:34 a.m. in 2008.
Medvedev will face No. 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Hugo Grenier 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
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