AFP
Daniil Medvedev survived a late-night US Open scare on Thursday by taming Australian battler Christopher O’Connell 6-2 6-2 6-7(6) 6-2 to achieve the third spherical at Flushing Meadows.
After strolling to a two-set lead Medvedev had regarded headed for routine passage however ultimately the third-seeded Russian wanted all his resolve to push O’Connell to the exit.
The get together environment inside Louis Armstrong Stadium was starkly completely different from the final time Medvedev and O’Connell stood throughout from one another in the course of the darkish days of COVID-19 restrictions.
That 2020 second-round match, which O’Connell described as “eerie”, was performed in an empty area apart from the gamers, their coaches and officers whereas Thursday’s conflict was electrical, with roars erupting after virtually each level.
Medvedev broke to open each the primary and second units and was in full management till O’Connell tapped into the vitality of the group that was now squarely within the Australian’s nook.
With chants of, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi” rising from the stands, O’Connell dug in to take the third set to a tiebreak when a shaky Medvedev double-faulted handy him a well-deserved third set.
But Medvedev didn’t turn out to be the 2021 US Open champion with out surviving just a few exams and used that have to regroup, breaking O’Connell to go up 3-1 within the fourth and by no means letting the Australian again into the set.
