Daniil Medvedev has reached the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time in a five set epic battle with former Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic.
Medvedev was two sets down to Cilic on Court One on Saturday when the Russian made his comeback, taking the final three sets to win 6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
It marks the first time that the world number two has ever come back from two sets down in his career and the furthest he has ever gone at the All England Club.
Medvedev arrived at Wimbledon in an unusually confident mood on grass having won the his first tour-level trophy on the surface at the Mallorca Championships.
That confidence saw him beat Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round, revenge for the German knocking him out in the first round in Halle, followed by a second round win against youngster Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets.
Cilic proved to be a real challenge for the Russian and he said after going down two sets he was determined to not see a repeat of his 2019 Wimbledon performance when he lost in five sets against David Goffin.
“It was an unbelievable match,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview.
“I think tennis fans always enjoy watching players come back from two-sets-to-love down and for it to be five sets. I certainly do so when I watch tennis on the TV.
“It’s my first comeback [from 0-2 sets down], and actually what’s amazing is against David Goffin at Wimbledon in 2019, I was two-sets-to-love down and I had a break in the fifth set, but I lost.
“So when I left the court after the fourth set today, I told myself, ‘It’s not going to be another one of those’.
“So I’m really happy. When I was 5-0, 40/0 up at the end and Marin came back to 2-5, I thought to myself, ‘Again..!’ Marin is an amazing player and for the first two sets he basically destroyed me.”
With Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov all through to the second week of Wimbledon, it marks the first time that three Russian men have reached this stage at Wimbledon in the Open Era (since April 1968).
The Russian will next face 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz for a spot in the quarter-finals, where he could meet Roger Federer should the Swiss win his next match over Lorenzo Sonego.
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