No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev finished his five-set win over Emil Ruusuvuori at 3:39 a.m. at the Australian Open, marking the third-latest finish of a match in Grand Slam history.
Medvedev, the Australian Open runner-up in 2021 and 2022, rallied for a 3-6, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0 victory in 4 hours, 23 minutes, to reach the third round.
“I, honestly, guys, would not be here,” he told the fans who remained at Rod Laver Arena after the match. “Thanks for staying. If I would be a tennis fan, and I would come, at 1, I will be like, OK, let’s go home. We’re going to catch the end of the match on the TV. Going to watch 30 minutes, then go to bed. Thanks, guys. You are strong.”
The match started late because the first night session match at Laver between Anna Blinkova and Elena Rybakina, which began shortly after 7 p.m., lasted a lengthy 2 hours, 46 minutes, ending with a half-hour, Slam singles record 42-point tiebreak.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DRAWS: Men | Women
Only two Slam matches have finished later than Medvedev-Ruusuvuori: Australian Lleyton Hewitt’s win over Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis at the 2008 Australian Open (4:34 a.m.) and Brit Andy Murray’s win over Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis at last year’s Australian Open (4:05 a.m.).
The five latest finishes in Grand Slam history have all come at the Australian Open. The latest U.S. Open finish was 2:50 a.m. in 2022 (Carlos Alcaraz over Jannik Sinner).
The French Open didn’t add a night session until 2021. Wimbledon does not have night sessions (though matches can be played into the evening on two courts with retractable roofs).
The Russian Medvedev next plays 27th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada on Saturday.
Finland’s Ruusuvuori, ranked 53rd, fell to 0-8 in his career in Grand Slam second round matches.
M3DV3D3V 🤯
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2024
For the 3rd time in his career @DaniilMedwed battles back from two sets down to edge Ruusuvuori #AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/jekzcoJcnS