Aus Open: Daniil Medvedev loses temper, Jannick Sinner ousts Alex de Minaur

An agitated Daniil Medvedev teed off at the chair umpire and lost his cool in the heat before steadying to claim a 6-2 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 7-5 win over Maxime Cressy and book his second Australian Open quarter-final on Monday.

The Russian second seed found the American serve-and-volley exponent a tough nut to crack at Margaret Court Arena and his frustration spilled over after losing the third set.

Apparently refused a request to leave the court to freshen up, Medvedev barked at the French chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein and complained that Cressy was spending too much time between serves.

Medvedev’s frustration only grew as eight break points slipped through his fingers in the fourth set before he finally slipped a forehand past the American in the 11th game to take his serve.

Medvedev wrapped up proceedings with a slew of huge serves before stepping in to thrash a forehand winner on match point.

Last year’s finalist, Medvedev next meets Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the semi-finals.

Auger-Aliassime books quarter-final berth

Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime earned a quarter-final berth when he outlasted veteran Croatian Marin Cilic 2-6 7-6(7) 6-2 7-6(4) at the Australian Open on Monday.

Cilic raced through the first set in only 35 minutes, but the long second set proved pivotal.

Auger-Aliassime squandered four set points under a baking afternoon sun, while also saving one with an ace.

But the 21-year-old finally won the set at the fifth opportunity to even the match, and dominated the next set as 33-year-old Cilic’s errors mounted as he became frustrated at the length of time his opponent took between serves.

Both players held serve in the fourth set to set up a tiebreaker, in which Auger-Aliassime prevailed with outstanding serving, closing it out with an ace in front of a small but excited crowd. 

Sinner ousts De Minaur 

Italian Jannick Sinner reached the Australian Open quarter-finals for the first time with a convincing victory over local hope Alex de Minaur on Monday.

Sinner, who also reached the last eight on his French Open debut in 2020, came through a testing opening set to win 7-6(3) 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 35 minutes.

“In the beginning, I was serving well. He had more chances than me in the first set and after that, I tried to push a little bit more,” Sinner said.

“I have gained a lot of experience in the last couple of months and I think I have grown as a player and a person.”

De Minaur had chances to break the Italian in the opening two service games but was unable to convert the opportunities.

In the tiebreaker, Sinner was able to stretch away from his rival to gain the initial advantage in an opening set that lasted an hour and 11 minutes.

Sinner carried the momentum into the second set when breaking the 32nd-seeded Australian to lead 2-0 and broke his opponent’s serve again in the third set.

De Minaur broke back but Sinner’s brilliant shot-making proved too good for him. 

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.