Entering the round of 16 showdown on Day 8, Xue Tian and Daniil Medvedev had already played three games and played all of them. For Medvedev, who has won eight straight since winning the title in Brisbane at the beginning of the year, things have been slow going in his fourth meeting with Tian.
Tenn gave Medvedev a 6-0 win in the first set at a Grand Slam and easily won 6-4, 6-0, 6-3, becoming the youngest Australian Open quarterfinalist since Nick Kyrgios in 2015. The 20-year-old Southern California native is also the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne since 1982 and the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals at a major since Andy Roddick in 2002.
“It feels great,” Tien said after a 7-1 record in Melbourne, where he reached the round of 16 last year. “It’s always special for me to come back here and play football, it’s a big goal for me and I’m very happy.”
He performed with style, methodically moving Medvedev around the court as if he were a pawn on a chess board.
Medvedev completed his fifth career two-set comeback in the third round against Fabian Marossan, but struggled to find a spark as an out-of-control Lokoda continued to make the most of his opportunities.
Tenn broke Medvedev’s ball in the first game of the match and never trailed. The first set was fairly close, but the American southpaw took over. He won 11 consecutive games and achieved results of 6-4, 6-0, and 4-0.
Medvedev finally regained his footing in the fifth game of the third set, but it was too little, too late.
To his credit, Medvedev broke serve again in the third game and held the score to 4-3, but Tiann calmly held serve in the next game and continued to attack, and Medvedev’s serve saved his life. A forehand pass and Medvedev’s powerful volley earned the Tian team three match points.
One started begging, but the second didn’t, and Tian hit an incredible backhand pass to end the game in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Tenn will face third seed Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. The two have met twice before. Tian An defeated the German in Acapulco last year, while Zverev defeated Tian An in straight sets at the French Open.
