Australian Open Day 10: Daniil Medvedev survives upset bid; Collins flies into semis

The unpredictable Australian Open rolled on in Day 10. We saw thrilling matches as well as the end of the road for several underdogs. Another American woman has made her way into the semis, and the No. 2 men's singles player in the world fended off a serious upset bid.

Here's what you need to know about Day 10 at the Australian Open.

Daniil Medvedev squeezes past Felix Auger-Aliassime

In one of the most thrilling matches of the tournament, No. 2 Daniil Medvedev had to fight hard to fend off an upset bid from No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime. It took five sets and four hours and 42 minutes, but Medvedev executed a fantastic comeback and finally emerged victorious, beating Auger-Aliassime 6-7(4), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-4.

We knew we were in for a real event in just the first set. Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime matched each other game for game, both displaying some utterly breathtaking skills.

That set went to a tiebreaker, which Auger-Aliassime won, and then he took the second set easily. But Medvedev had just begun to fight. Facing down elimination, the third set was an eerie repeat of the first, only this time, Medvedev came out on top.

The match was long and punishing, and as it wore on, Auger-Aliassime started losing some of his physicality. His forehand winners essentially disappeared and he wasn't moving around the court as well as he had in the first two sets. That's how exceptional players like Medvedev win — they grind down their opponents over time. Medvedev kept up a breakneck pace well into the fifth set, zipping around the court like the match had been going on for one hour and not four. He just got better and better.

Despite the loss — or maybe even because of it — Auger-Aliassime has absolutely graduated from "up and comer" in the tennis scene to a legitimate contender. He went toe-to-toe with one of the best tennis players in the world, took him to five full sets, and made him work for every single point. We'll be seeing Medvedev in the semifinals, but Auger-Aliassime has officially arrived.

Danielle Collins books trip to semis

American Danielle Collins, seeded 27th, is on her way to her second Australian Open semifinals in the last four years. She put an end to Alize Cornet's run, beating her 7-5, 6-1.

Collins' game was powerful and fast, and after the match Cornet said that she never got comfortable on the court.

“Her ball is going really fast in the air, and she takes the ball super early,” Cornet said via the New York Times. “All the time you feel really oppressed. I felt out of breath all the time. I couldn’t, like, place my game. She just never let me do it, never gave me the time to do it. Yeah, she’s impressive.”

Considering what Collins has been through over the past year, her success at the Australian Open is even more meaningful. She'd struggled for years with painful periods, but was told by doctors that it was "normal." She finally found a doctor who took her pain seriously and was diagnosed with endometriosis, which led to April 2021 surgery to have a tennis-ball sized cyst removed from her left ovary. She was able to return in time for the French Open.

Now Collins, who was ranked 30 in the world coming into the Australian Open, will likely break the Top 15 for the first time in her career when the rankings are updated. She'll face No. 7 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, while fellow American Madison Keys will face world No. 1 Ash Barty.

Stefanos Tsitsipas rolls past Jannik Sinner

Many thought the match between No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 11 Jannik Sinner was an upset waiting to happen, but they were all sorely mistaken. Tsitsipas steamrolled Sinner 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that lasted just over two hours.

Tsitsipas held the lead for nearly the entire match. After he easily won the first set, Sinner won the first game of the second set, but Tsitsipas came back and immediately tied it up. The same thing happened at the start of the third set, and Tsitsipas barely blinked the entire time. It was his best performance of the entire tournament so far, which is incredible considering he wasn't expected to even compete at the Australian Open due to offseason elbow surgery.

Instead of sitting at home, Tsitsipas pulled off points like this.

He'll need all those moves and more when he faces Medvedev in the semifinals.

Iga Swiatek ends Kaia Kanepi's dream run

It's the end of the road for Kaia Kanepi, unseeded at the Australian Open and ranked 115th in the world. She made it all the way to the quarterfinals, but couldn't get past No. 7 Iga Swiatek.

The word "epic" is thrown around a lot in tennis, but the match between Kanepi and Swiatek completely fit the bill. It took over three hours for Swiatek to defeat Kanepi 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3. It was two powerful women playing powerful tennis, and it ended on one of the most incredible rallies you'll ever see.

That point sent Swiatek to her first Australian Open semifinal, where she'll face Danielle Collins.