Stan Wawrinka ‘finds solutions’ to dump Daniil Medvedev out of Australian Open

Australian Open
Stan Wawrinka finding solutions

Stan Wawrinka pulled off one of his lung-busting victories as he outlasted Daniil Medvedev in five sets to reach the quarter-final of the Australian Open.

The 2014 champion found himself two sets to one down, but turned things around to defeat the fourth seed 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in three-and-a-half hours on Margaret Court Arena.

“That was an amazing match and an amazing atmosphere,” Wawrinka, who hit 71 winners and made 64 unforced errors, said. “It was really tough to play against Daniil. I had to raise my level in the fourth and fifth sets. The level was super high and the atmosphere is always something special here in Australia.

“I’m finding solutions. I was losing a bit of confidence in the second and third sets, and was fighting against myself to play my game. I had to fight, stay positive and I’m happy with the result.”

Wawrinka broke in games four and eight to take the opening set that lasted just over 30 minutes, but US Open runner-up Medvedev hit back with two breaks of his own in the second set to level it up, and then edged ahead with a single break in game seven of the third set.

The fourth set was a good slugfest with only one break point opportunity in game four, but Medvedev quickly closed the door and so it went to the tie-breaker.

The Swiss was in charge early on and never relinquished his advantage to take it to a decider and he put the foot on the throat early on with a break in game one and then got an insurance policy in game seven.

There was no way back for Medvedev and, while Wawrinka claimed his 51st career five-setter, the Russian’s wait to win a match after going the distances continues as his record stands at 0-6.

Wawrika will take on either Alexander Zverev or Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final.

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Daniil Medvedev Stan Wawrinka

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