Daniil Medvedev did well to compose himself after losing his cool says former British No 1

Tim Henman believes that Daniil Medvedev was lucky to avoid having a racket he threw strike anyone during his marathon five-set win in the Australian Open second round.

Medvedev maintained his momentum in the fourth set by breaking Ruusuvuori in the opening game, having won the third set.

However, he coughed up the lead in the eighth game when Ruusuvuori put the set back on serve at 4–4, went up 5–4, and came dangerously close to pulling off an upset.

That infuriated Medvedev, who in a move that Henman felt could have been hazardous, hurled his racket across the court towards his chair.

Discussing the incident on Eurosport, Henman said: “He was up a break in the fourth set and then he absolutely went mad when he lost this point. They get into this long exchange and Medvedev comes forward and look at that passing shot.

“It was a short backswing and a flick of the wrist and then that brings the reaction. And that is just… that’s crazy because there are times when you’re frustrated and you smash a racquet but when you throw it like that it could go absolutely anywhere.

“You don’t know how it’s going to bounce off the chair so he was lucky that that didn’t happen. But he did an incredible job of then regrouping to hold serve and stay in that fourth set.”

Henman also questioned if the Australian Open rules should be altered in light of Medvedev’s thrilling victory over Ruusuvuori, which came to a close in the wee hours of Friday morning in Melbourne.

The tournament management had intended to prevent this situation by adding an additional day at the beginning of the first Grand Slam of the year, but the No 3 seed rallied from a two-set deficit to win in a decider on Rod Laver and move on to the third round at roughly 3:40 am local time.

After an exciting match in the women’s singles, where Anna Blinkova defeated Elena Rybakina in a 42-point final-set tie-break, the match didn’t start until 11:15 pm.

“The problem in the slams is you’re playing best in five sets,” Henman said.

“On tour, you’re playing best of three sets, but it’s been a crazy day.

“I don’t know whether you need to start the night session a little bit earlier. Do you make the balls, the courts a bit quicker? Who knows? But this is not what they wanted in this tournament.”

WATCH: Daniil Medvedev commends die-hard tennis fans who stayed to watch his match finish after 3 am