By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, February 13, 2021

Signs of severe stress surrounded Daniil Medvedev.

Flummoxed by Filip Krajinovic finding the lines to force a fifth set, Medvedev was flattened by a pain in the butt and frustrated by the fact his coach, Gilles Cervara, was so sick of the Russian’s griping, he walked out of Rod Laver Arena urging his charge to calm down.

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Ultimately, Medvedev brought the calm and the storm.

The fourth-seeded Russian rolled through a shutout set capping his first career five-set victory with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0 triumph over a tough Krajinovic.

It was Medvedev’s 17th straight win and sends him into an Australian Open fourth-round clash against American Mackenzie McDonald.

The 2016 NCAA champion for UCLA, McDonald broke serve five times defeating Lloyd Harris 7-6(7), 6-1, 6-4 to reach his first Grand Slam round of 16 since the 2019 Wimbledon.

Breaking the five-set threshold was a rite of passage moment for Medvedev, who was winless in six prior five-setters. This time, the lanky Russian kept calm in the decisive set smacking 14 winners compared to five for Krajinovic.

“I remember many of these five-set matches I think like three or four of them maybe I would be a break up or something like this,” Medvedev said. “I always say experience is a key for me. So in this this fifth set I felt like of course it was tight.

“As soon as I got the break I was under control in contrary with previous matches where I could get tight and start to rush things to make some errors. Here, I was trying to be all over the place so I was really calm to finish the match. I’m really happy I got the first five-set win.”

Hours earlier, eight-time AO champion Novak Djokovic gutted through a five-set win over American Taylor Fritz, but suffered what he called a torn oblique muscle, which puts the top seed’s title defense in serious jeopardy.

Riding a streak of tournament titles at the Rolex Paris Masters, ATP Finals and ATP Cup, where he joined forces with buddy Andrey Rublev to lead Russia to the title, Medvedev looked like a man feeling the pressure as this duel escalated into a fifth set.

Coach Cervara, disappointed with his charger’s ornery disposition, bailed on the match putting responsibility firmly on Medvedev’s shoulders.

Medvedev, who was ripping into his coach before his sudden departure, responded winning eight of the last 10 games.

“He said just before leaving that he’s sure I’m gonna win the match, but he’s gonna leave me alone to be more calm actually,” Medvedev said. “I won’t tell more. That was a good thing to do. Luckily I won.”

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The 2019 US Open finalist was on track for a straight sets win but lost his focus creating a slight crack of opportunity for Krajinovic, who seized it lifting his level considerably in the third and fourth sets.

Medvedev steered a backhand down the line wide as Krajinovic broke to take the third set.

Muttering frustrations to himself between points, Medvedev lost his edge sailing a forehand beyond the baseline to drop serve in the fourth game of the fourth set.

Quick off the mark, Krajinovic carved out a fine backhand volley winner to help hold at love and back up the break for 4-1.

“Unbelievable! This is unbelievable!” Medvedev said after Krajinovic carved out a drop volley winner to go up 5-2.

During the ensuing changeover, Medvedev took a medical timeout for massage treatment of a strained left glute.

The delay didn’t deter Krajinovic, who converted his third set point to force a decider when Medvedev pasted a return into the net.



Resetting, the ATP Finals champion applied immediate pressure earning triple break point in Krajinovic’s first service game of the final set. Patiently probing the Serbian, Medvedev stepped into the court and slashed a diagonal forehand winner breaking for 2-0.

Three hours into the match, Medvedev had restored order rapping a clean forehand down the line for a double break and 4-0 advantage.

Krajinovic flagged a forehand into net ending it in three hours, six minutes.

When this Australian Open draw was revealed, a possible all-Russian quarterfinal clash between buddies Rublev and Medvedev popped off the page. Now, the teammates are one round from making that dream match a reality.

The seventh-seeded Rublev ended the inspired run of 39-year-old Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. Should Rublev beat No. 24-seeded Casper Ruud and Medvedev top McDonald we'll see the Russians face off.