Daniil Medvedev takes veiled shot at Australian Open late finish after 2R match goes past 3 am

World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev took a shot at the Australian Open organizers after his second-round match ended well past 3 am on Friday (January 19) despite beginning the night before.

Medvedev was forced to overcome a two-set deficit against World No. 53 Emil Ruusuvuori earlier on Thursday, requiring more than four hours to win the contest 4-6, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0. Having said that, while the Russian remained calm under pressure to get through to the third round, his match finishing past 3 am suggests that he will have little recovery time.

In that context, the 26-year-old took to his Instagram stories to post a picture of his watch. He also tagged the Australian Open's social media handle with the caption:

"Very late @bovet1822 @australianopen."

A screenshot of Daniil Medvedev's Instagram story

Daniil Medvedev did not hold back, from expressing his thoughts about the late finish, while signing the camera following his victory as he wrote "Late :')" on the lens.

The former World No. 1 will now have less than 48 hours to replenish his reserves before he takes on 27th-seeded Felix Auger Aliassime for a place in the fourth round of the Melbourne Slam on Saturday (January 20).

Medvedev has always had Auger-Aliassime's number during their meetings on the ATP Tour, going by his 6-0 winning record against the Canadian. However, the third seed cannot take the match lightly, as he may not be at his absolute physical best on Saturday.

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Daniil Medvedev is not the only player to have completed their match past midnight at Australian Open

Andy Murray after his win against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2023 Australian Open

Tennis fans were unhappy with Daniil Medvedev's second-round clash being stretched till 3:40 AM (local time), as evidenced by their reactions on social media. The Russian, however, is not the first player to be affected by late finishes at this year's Australian Open.

Earlier on Sunday (January 14), defending champion Aryna Sabalenka kicked off her campaign with a 6-0, 6-1 win against German qualifier Ella Siedel. Similar to Medvedev's case, the Belarusian's match finished past midnight, drawing the tennis community's ire.

Interestingly, the Australian Open extended their event to 15 days this year to avoid late-night matches and introduced new scheduling rules for matches on top courts, allowing only two matches each in the day and night sessions.

These changes follow Andy Murray's displeasure at the Australian Open organizers for his thrilling five-set, late-night win against Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round of the tournament last year.

Murray's match had begun after 10 AM and ended at around 4 AM, leaving very little in his tank for his next match against Roberto Bautista Agut, which he dropped in four sets.

"I don't know who it's beneficial for (about late-night matches at the Majors). We come here after the match and that's what the discussion is, rather than it being like, 'epic Murray-Kokkinakis match' - it ends in a bit of a farce..." Murray said last year to Sky Sports. "Some people obviously need to work the following day and everything."