When Daniil Medvedev was down two sets to love in the cold, early morning hours Friday during his second-round match against Emil Ruusuvuori, there was a reason he dug deep to win in five sets at 3:40 a.m.

While victory at the time must have seemed like a dream - one that he should have been having at that hour of the night - the two-time Australian Open finalist knew of the rewards that lay ahead if he endured the short-term pain for long-term gain.

The pay-off has arrived, with a promise of more to come. Four days after rallying to beat the Finn in five sets, Medvedev finds himself advancing to the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park for the third time in the past four years by beating Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6(4) 5-7, 6-1.

At No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, 66 places ahead of No. 69 Borges, Medvedev appeared content to allow Borges to be the play maker, confident that his defensive skills and experience would be enough to get the job done. Things were going according to plan when Medvedev led 5-2 in the third set and later had two match points on Borge's serve at 5-4. But he lost five straight games before steadying in the fourth set to close out the win.

Borges, who combined several drop shots to exploit Medvedev’s deep-court stance with regular forays to the net, dictated play with 49 winners to Medvedev’s 21 (excluding aces). But what proved more telling was the unforced error count, with Borges littering the stats sheet with 66 to Medvedev’s 34 (11 of which were double faults), according to Infosys Stats.

Making his 2024 tournament debut at the Open, Medvedev next faces ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz, who ended the impressive Australian Open debut of 21-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 6-4.

(With inputs from agencies)