Second seed Daniil Medvedev overcame the hottest day of the tournament to beat 15th seed Fabio Fognini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in their third-round clash at the Olympics.
The Russian Olympic Committee representative required two medical timeouts and a visit from the trainer due to the intense humidity. The world number two even took a shower between the second and third sets before he rallied to defeat the Italian 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in two hours and 26 minutes.
Medvedev, who is making his Olympics debut this week, saved seven of the eight break points he faced in the match and won 70 percent (30/43) of his first-service points.
Medvedev overcomes heat, Fognini to reach quarterfinals
The world number two came out of the blocks firing, setting up break point with a series of forehands and breaking after a mishit forehand forced Fognini to hit a smash, which he missed.
Cruising along with a 3-1 lead, Medvedev achieved a second break as the Italian dumped a backhand into the net and bounced his racket off of the white-hot hardcourt in frustration.
The remainder of the set was routine, although the ROC athlete would call for the trainer after claiming a 5-2 lead due to the extreme heat. On double set point, a strong serve forced Fognini into another error.
Needing a good start to the second set, Fognini escaped to hold in the opening game after being taken to deuce and he maintained his lead throughout the set, saving two break points in the seventh game.
That would prove to be crucial as Fognini broke after a marathon 16-point game when Medvedev hit a backhand into the net and he rallied from 0-40 down to hold and level the match at one set apiece.
After going off court prior to the start of the third set, the second seed trailed 0-40 in the first game, but came through with a hold. He used that momentum to break to love, the 15th seed netting a forehand.
Leading 4-2, Medvedev saved three break points to hold in another gruelling 16-point game. At 30-30 on Fognini's serve, the Italian double-faulted to hand the ROC athlete a match point and when he doubled again, Medvedev was safely through to the last eight.