Daniil Medvedev survives big wobble to beat Nuno Borges and reach Australian Open quarter-finals

Third seed Daniil Medvedev survived a big wobble to creep into the Australian Open quarter-finals with a four-set win over surprise package Nuno Borges.

The Russian looked on course for a routine victory but his serve deserted him at the tail end of the third set, allowing his drop shot-loving opponent to win five games on the spin from 5-2 down and force a fourth.

But Medvedev belatedly rediscovered his groove to halt the inspired Portuguese’s charge and prevail 6-3 7-6(4) 5-7 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

“Before this match I was feeling 100%, but he made me run. Third set at the end, that’s why I missed a little bit too much, I was pretty dead,” Medvedev said on court.

“By missing too much, which I didn’t want to do, I recovered a little and in the fourth set I managed to raise my energy level. Could I have done it at the end of the third, and not been here for a fourth? Now, I’m again pretty tired. The match was good, one day off, and I should be good for the next one.”

Medvedev breezed through the opening set without facing a break point and then cracked his opponent’s serve midway through the second as a quick win seemed likely.

But Borges – who had already taken out seeds Grigor Dimitrov and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Melbourne – responded immediately to level at 4-4 before hanging tough to force a tie-break.

The Portuguese grabbed an early mini-break before both players became guilty of untidy points, with Medvedev staying the cooler to pinch the breaker 7-4.

After the players traded breaks at the start of the third set, Medvedev raced into a 5-2 lead as victory beckoned. Then his serve went AWOL.

He dropped two double-faults when serving for the match at 5-3, then spurned two match points in the next game as Borges wriggled out of trouble with some ultra-aggressive play.

Two more doubles handed Borges the opportunity to take control of the set, with the world No. 69 obliging after winning a crazy point that saw him return the tastiest of smashes before expertly lobbing the stunned Russian.

Borges served out the set at the first attempt – his first against a top-10 opponent – as he dreamed of another scalp at Melbourne Park.

But Medvedev upped his level in the fourth, breaking at the first opportunity as he started to get a read on the drop shot.

Another break finally snuffed out the Borges resistance, with the Russian quickly booking a quarter-final date with Polish ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz, who saw off unseeded Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 7-6(6) 7-6(3) 6-4.

“The third set was tough physically because he was playing very aggressive. As soon as I hit one shot in the rally that wasn’t aggressive or deep enough, he would go full power. It was pretty impressive,” said Medvedev.

“At the end of the third set, I didn’t play long enough or well enough. I missed too much, some double faults.

“But after the third set, the only thing on my mind was that it was there and I cannot change it. I hoped it would not be five sets, and I’m happy that it wasn’t five sets.”