Boos erupt as Open villain Daniil Medvedev trolls Australia with Djokovic call

Daniil Medvedev was happy to play the villain once again at Melbourne Park, invoking a strong response with his Novak Djokovic claim.

Russia’s second seed Daniil Medvedev staged a stirring comeback from two sets down on Wednesday night to reel in 21-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime and claw his way into the last four at the Australian Open.

Medvedev looked out for the count as ninth seed Auger-Aliassime held match point in the fourth set, but the world No. 2 battled back to win 6-7 (4-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 6-4 and he will now play Stefanos Tsitsipas in Friday’s semi-finals.

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Medvedev had beaten Auger-Aliassime in straight sets in their US Open semi-final last September, but the roles were dramatically reversed in their return Grand Slam bout in Melbourne.

The Russian was looking down the barrel of a stunning defeat and was facing a match point before he turned around the momentum, winning a third set tiebreak to edge home against the determined Canadian.

Ever the comedian, Medvedev couldn’t help but troll the Australian crowd in a match that tipped over past midnight on Rod Laver Arena. Having already taken aim at fans with a “low IQ” for being too boisterous during his second-round win over Nick Kyrgios, Medvedev was all too happy to continue playing the villain in his post-match interview on court with Jim Courier.

“I was not playing my best and Felix was playing unbelievable, serving unbelievable,” Medvedev said. “He was all over me to be honest and all over the place.

“I do not really know what to do so I was like — actually, I don’t know if people will like it — but I told myself what Novak would do?

“You know what came to my mind was that because he is one of the greatest champions, or Roger or Rafa to be honest, they have won so many matches like this.

“And I just thought, ‘OK I will make him work’. If you want to win it, he needs to, you know, fight to the last point even if it is 5-0 40-0 for him, I am going to try to make him tired for the next match, fight until the last point.

“And it worked. I managed to raise my level during the game. Especially in the tiebreak … actually it’s funny, when they closed the roof I suddenly felt the momentum changing my game, I felt that I could go through the court more and serve better and just started playing better.”

Some people enjoyed the reference to Djokovic, the anti-vaccination world No. 1 who was deported before the start of the tournament, but the quip also sparked plenty of boos too. As soon as Medvedev mentioned Federer and Nadal though, those jeers turned into cheers.

Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Folks, this was a definite, excellent troll by Medvedev, who is a king of the art form. See how he burst into little mischievous giggles as soon as he said it?

“It was probably true, sure, but he knew what he was doing by saying it in that moment, and he loved it.”

Medvedev continued that theme in his post-match press conference as he revealed he used Djokovic for inspiration when he had lost all confidence.

“I’ve played more times with Novak, like when I started to be good, Rafa and Roger got a little bit injured from time to time so I had more matches with Novak, more practises when I was younger and yeah, some matches he won, some matches I won,” Medvedev said.

“Some matches I watched him in the Grand Slams, being two sets to love down with Tsitsipas and Musetti in Roland Garros.

“I was there between the sets and as I say, zero confidence in myself and the outcome of the match. I was like, what would the best players in the world do?

“During all the matches, as soon as I was done a little bit, I was like: Just be like Novak. Show him that you are better. And it won’t work every time, because again, he had a match point.”

Asked about the crowd’s reaction to his Djokovic reference with Courier, Medvedev added: “They booed. Again, as a person, I’m trying to be honest of course. Sometimes I cannot talk about everything, because we live in the time where you cannot say anything, everything you think.

“But this, I mean, their reaction, I try to be honest with them, to tell them how I felt during the match. Yeah, I like honesty.”

All hail Daniil Medvedev, king of the troll. (Photo by Paul Crock / AFP)

Earlier in the match, fans made it clear they had not forgotten the Russian’s “low IQ” swipe after his Kyrgios clash, throwing their support behind Auger-Aliassime.

Medvedev sarcastically clapped along with the crowd after an unforced error gave his Canadian opponent the first set.

“They (the crowd) are for Felix and he sarcastically claps his racquet,” Courier said in commentary for Nine. “He (Medvedev) thinks it is poor etiquette by the crowd (to cheer errors) and he has said it many, many times in press. And that just shows you where this match stands. That Felix has gotten underneath his skin and the scoreline is weighing on him.”

Early in the second set when Auger-Aliassime broke, Todd Woodbridge said in commentary the Canadian might need to ask the crowd to be quiet between first and second serves as they appeared to revel in Medvedev’s mistakes.

When he didn’t stand up in the second set, Sam Groth added suggested the Russian was getting increasingly frustrated.

“It has been a frustrating night courtside. Really noticeable from Daniil Medvedev,” Groth said. “He has been frustrated at himself. He has been frustrated at his racquet. At the ballkids and the tournament referee, at the roof, at the weather, at the crowd. A little bit of everything.”

Can Medvedev go all the way? (Photo by Aaron FRANCIS / AFP)

The comeback win was only Medvedev’s third five-set victory in 10 matches going the distance at Grand Slams.

Auger-Aliassime held match point at 5-4, 40-30 in the fourth set, but Medvedev fought it off to make a pressure hold.

Medvedev got a crucial service break in the 11th game when a Auger-Aliassime forehand was wide for the Russian to serve out and force a fifth set on his fourth set point.

Medvedev fought off three break points before getting the crucial break in the next game when Auger-Aliassime double-faulted on break point to lead 2-1 in the final set.

But Auger-Aliassime fought to the bitter end, even holding two break points as Medvedev served out for the match.

It has been a groundbreaking Grand Slam for the rising 21-year-old Canadian. He beat former US Open champion Marin Cilic for the first time in four encounters in the previous round and looked as if he could repeat the stat against Medvedev, to whom he had also lost on three occasions.

Medvedev will face Tsitsipas in the semi-finals at the Australian Open for the second year in succession after beating him at the same stage in the tournament on the way to the 2021 final where he was beaten by Djokovic.

With AFP