By Ian Chadband
Dannil Medvedev faces another potential fine as he departs Melbourne following his second five-set marathon at this year’s Australian Open.
After losing to 19-year-old American qualifier Learner Tien about 3am Friday, the Russian firebrand skipped his post-match media commitments, a decision which might prove costly, although not as costly as his outburst in first round win over Kasidit Samrej.
In that hard-fought match Medvedev – last year’s tournament runner-up – lost his temper, repeatedly whacking a net camera with his is racquet. That offence could attract a fine of up to $80,000.
Medvedev, 28, also incurred a point penalty in Thursday night’s match against Tien when he chucked his equipment toward the sideline, skidding it across the court until it reached an advertising panel near his bench. In another decisive moment, he voiced displeasure about being called for two consecutive foot-faults, resulting in a double-fault, during the second-set tiebreaker.
The outbursts distracted from Tien’s stunning performance to upset the No.5 seed.
With the clock ticking towards 3am, the Californian teen, who’d looked down and out after the fifth seed made one of his trademark comebacks, found remarkable mental and physical reserves to pull off a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (8-10), 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) triumph in 4 hours 49 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.
A healthy-sized, if bleary-eyed crowd, stayed on, transfixed by the drama as world No.121 Learner – given the memorable name by his maths teacher mum – ended up the teacher, giving a lesson in indefatigability to the out-of-sorts Medvdev, one of the tour’s great stayers.
“I was definitely hoping it wasn’t going to go a fifth-set breaker,” smiled Tien, who’d only won his first grand slam match a couple of days earlier but is now the youngest American man in the third round in Melbourne since 18-year-old Pete Sampras in 1990.
“Either way, just really happy to get a win. I know I made it a lot harder than maybe it could have been … but, whatever!”
In the third-set tiebreaker, the young southpaw had a match point but Medvedev snuffed it out with an ace and Tien appeared so deflated after the Russian took the set that it felt no surprise when he was outplayed comprehensively in the fourth. There looked no way back.
Daniil Medvedev lets his emotions out during his second round match.Credit: AP
But Tien smiled afterwards. The reason for his poor performance in that penultimate stanza was actually all down to an urgent need for a bathroom break.
“Losing the third set in a tiebreak was tough, I had match point, and it was a little bit disappointing to see a fourth set,” explained Tien, the son of Vietnamese parents.
“But honestly in that fourth set, I just had to pee so bad, so I was just trying to finish it up fairly quick,” he added, reducing the crowd to laughter.
“I also wanted to start the fifth serving, so I scrapped out that game and it all worked out.”
Learner Tien, 19, caused a massive upset by ousting Medvedev. Credit: AP
It was the match of the championship, an extraordinary, fluctuating contest that, surreally, even got interrupted at 2.30am by a six-minute rain stoppage at the most critical juncture with Tien serving at 5-5, 15-all in the decider.
When they returned, Medvedev broke to serve for victory at 6-5, but Tien went for broke against the overly conservative Russian, breaking back immediately and then, after trailing 6-4 in the match breaker, taking victory two hours after his first match point.
“I’ve no idea what time it is but I’m sure it’s really late. Thanks, you guys, for staying out here,” smiled Tien, after winning six of the last seven points and watching Medvedev float one final return over the baseline that sealed his fate.
“I wasn’t trying to think of the match as anything more important than any other match I’ve ever played. I was just going to go out there, have fun, see what I could do,” shrugged Tien later, as he chomped on a pepperoni pizza as his early-hours reward.
“It (the pizza) was either going to be celebratory or a binge-y, like, cope.
“It feels better it’s more celebratory, for sure.”
With AP
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