MELBOURNE, Australia — Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev achieved a career first Saturday as he advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open, finally winning a match that went to five sets.
Medvedev was 0-6 in five-setters before his drought-breaking 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-0 win over No. 28-seeded Filip Krajinovic, who had a 4-1 record previously in Grand Slam matches that went the full five sets.
The win stretched Medvedev’s winning streak to 17 matches, a stretch that includes the title at the 2020 season-ending ATP Finals.
Medvedev, the U.S. Open finalist last year, will next play Mackenzie McDonald, the unseeded American who beat Lloyd Harris in straight sets to equal his best Grand Slam result by reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
McDonald is a former top-60 player, but his ranking fell to No. 272 last year after he was sidelined for seven months by a hamstring injury. His ranking is back up to No. 192.
No. 2-seeded Rafael Nadal was to continue his quest for a men’s-record 21st major title Saturday night against Cameron Norrie. Other men in third-round action included No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 7 Andrey Rublev and No. 9 Matteo Berrettini.