The ongoing Australian Open has been a treat to watch as the tournament gradually progressed to the last-16 round. The much anticipated Melbourne Park event has seen the likes of Djokovic, Nadal taking the court by storm. Adding on, one such last-16 tie will see American Mackenzie McDonald going up against world number 4 Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev victorious over Krajinovic
The Russian star has beaten world number 31 Filip Krajinovic after a tensed and tiring five-setter. Medvedev beat Krajinovic 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0.
The fourth seed Medvedev seemed to take the simple victory when he won the opening two sets: 6-3, 6-3. However, the match turned on its head when 28th seed Krajinovic leveled the scoreboard by winning the third and fourth sets 6-4, 6-3.
Winning a Grand Slam match in five sets like… 😎#Kia | #MovementThatInspires | #KiaTennis pic.twitter.com/7tYEpmAQWD
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 13, 2021
Soon after, Medvedev started losing his grip on the game. His coach Gilles Cervara got up and left the Rod Laver Arena. The action came after some angry altercations with the former. Nevertheless Medvedev managed to win the fifth set by a 6-0 margin to take the match away from Krajinovic. Medvedev on his altercations with his coach told in an interview, “He’s sure I’m going to win the match, he’s going to leave me alone to be more calm. It was a good thing to do. Luckily I won.”
Medvedev also conveyed, “Sometimes maybe I will disagree but this time for sure it was a good thing to do. It happens once per year, two times per year maximum, maybe once in two years, but today it helped, and definitely we’re going to talk about it a little bit, but there is not a big deal.”
Mackenzie, too strong for Harris
On the other hand, American world number 194 American Mackenzie McDonald was too strong for the world number 91 South Africa Lloyd Harris. McDonald beat Harris by 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, 6-4 set to reach the last 16.
Moving on ⏩
Mackenzie McDonald advances to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the second time in his career! 🇺🇸👏#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/6gNr2SEftP
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 13, 2021
“He’s really a tricky opponent, a great player. Takes the ball early. I would say even a kind of Roger (Federer) style, trying to rush the net, rush the ball. So not easy to play” Medvedev said about world number 194.
In conclusion, the fourth round of this Melbourne Park event to go live from tomorrow. However, the MacKenzie – Medvedev match to take place in two days’ time.
