Tetchy Medvedev fells stubborn Cressy as Cornet ends Slam hoodoo

MELBOURNE – Title favourite Daniil Medvedev was pushed to the limit by Maxime Cressy before reaching the last eight of the Australian Open on Monday as French veteran Alize Cornet made the quarter-finals of a Slam for the first time in her long career.

It took the tetchy Russian world number two 3hr 30min to subdue the unseeded American serve-volley specialist Cressy 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 to set up a quarter-final against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.

“It was long and it was not easy, the scoreline apart from the first set were all tough sets,” said Medvedev, who clashed with the umpire and complained of his bad luck during the most severe examination of his title credentials so far.

“If I didn’t win the fourth set I would have…