Firebrand Russian Daniil Medvedev has survived a mid-match meltdown – where he struck the umpire’s chair twice – to win his ATP Cup clash and help his country through to the semi-finals.

Medvedev initially verbally clashed with Argentine opponent Diego Schwartzman after being broken for the first time in the match during the second set.

But the world No.5 was only just warming up.

Approaching chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani, a furious Medvedev wanted to know whether he’d been given a warning for the incident.

Apparently he had been – for unsportsmanlike conduct – but that was quickly followed by a point penalty as the 23-year-old bashed his racquet twice against the chair in scenes rarely witnessed in a tennis match.

The composed Lahyani, who in 2018 received a two-tournament suspension for his US Open pep talk with Nick Kyrgios in which he said he wanted to “help him”, cooly handed down the penalty to Medvedev

The Russian, who had won the first set, went on to lose the second before eventually prevailing 6-4 4-6 6-3.

Last year’s ATP tour leader for wins (59) and US Open runner-up, Medvedev is now 4-0 for singles at the event.

Earlier, world No.17 Karen Khachanov eased past Guido Pella 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to give Russia the perfect start to the tie.

Khachanov is also 4-0 in singles for the competition, and with Medvedev firing looks to have Russia a real chance of claiming the inaugural title.

As the Russian No.2 he won’t come up against Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in Sydney unless Medvedev is withdrawn from a match but says it was important to believe he could beat the best, particularly ahead of the Australian Open.

“I think obviously to succeed in slams especially and in big tournaments you have to believe in this way,” he said.

“Otherwise it will be tough to beat top guys.”

Russia will play the winner of Friday’s quarter-final between Serbia and Canada in the semi-finals.