The three-time finalist of the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev, was eliminated in the 2nd round by the young American Learner Tien, in a suspenseful match concluded in the super tie-break of the fifth set, at almost 3 a.m. , Melbourne time. A poor performance for the Russian, seeded number 5 in the tournament.
Finalist in three of the last four editions of the Australian Open (2021, 2022, 2024), the Russian Daniil Medvedev (5th in the world) was eliminated in the second round, Friday in Melbourne, by the young American Learner Tien (121st ) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (8/10), 1-6, 7-6 (10/7).
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Medvedev, who needed five sets in the first round to get rid of the modest Thai Kasidit Samrej (418th), had not been eliminated at such an early stage of a Grand Slam tournament since his defeat upon entry into the running at Roland Garros in 2023.
Nearly five hours of gameplay
On Friday, he saved a match point in the tie-break of the third set, before losing the second in favor of the American after 4 hours 49 minutes of play, when it was almost 3 hours morning in Australia. Coming from qualifying, Learner Tien reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, at the age of 19. He will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet (69th) on Saturday, who defeated another American, Mitchell Krueger, on Thursday.
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For his first confrontation against the former world number 1, Tien pocketed the first set after making up a break behind. In a curious second set, where both players struggled on serve and conceded their throws four times, it was once again the American who had the last word in the deciding game.
Tien, one of the four qualified players who participated in the NextGen Finals
In the third set, Tien was well on his way to winning a decisive tie-break. But he made two avoidable unforced errors on the forehand and Medvedev started again. After a one-sided fourth set, the world number 5 found his opponent in the last set. In the super tie-break, Tien won four points in a row to win.
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Despite the elimination of Joao Fonseca (18) against Lorenzo Sonego on Thursday, Tien is the fourth player to have participated in the NextGen ATP Finals – the tournament which in December brought together the eight best players under 21 in the past season – to join the third round.
On Wednesday, Jakub Mensik (19 years old), winner of number 6 seed Casper Ruud, and Arthur Fils (20 years old) reached the round of 16. Alex Michelsen (20) also qualified in three sets on Thursday, after eliminating Stefanos Tsitsipas (number 11) in the first round.
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