Third-seeded Daniil Medvedev navigated an up-and-down quarterfinal match at the Australian Open to emerge with a 7–6 (4), 2–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 victory over ninth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz on Wednesday, Jan. 24, in Melbourne.
Medvedev’s winning drop shot on match point sealed the victory in 3 hours, 59 minutes.
“I am so destroyed right now,” Medvedev said in a postmatch interview on court. “Honestly, not that I ran out of gas, but I was feeling very (tired) physically at the end of the second set. So I was, ‘All right. I need to try to stay tough.’ (I went up a) break in the fourth, but he played good. ...
“Fourth set, I had no more concentration. I just had to try my best to do whatever I can, and let’s see. If I lose, I lose and I go home. That’s OK. I’m happy that ... I managed to win, and I really liked the match point.”
Next up for Medvedev is a semifinal match against either second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany.
Medvedev, 27, is one win away from matching his best results at the Australian Open, runner-up finishes in 2021 (lost to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic) and in 2022 (lost to Spain’s Rafael Nadal). His lone Grand Slam championship came at the 2021 U.S. Open, when he got past Djokovic in the final.
Medvedev saved 10 of 15 break points against Hurkacz, who saved five of the nine break points on his own serve.
It was the second time in the fortnight that Medvedev played a five-set match. In the second round, when he escaped a two-set deficit against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, the match ended at 3:39 a.m. local time. On Wednesday, Medvedev survived through the daytime heat.
“With Ruusuvuori, after the second set, I’m on the court, it’s already like 2 in the morning, I don’t think I’m going to be able to catch a 6-hour flight tomorrow in the evening, so I’m going to have to tell me wife I’m going to stay one (more) day in Australia,” Medvedev said. “And I’m (still) here.”
Alexander Zverev quashed a comeback attempt by World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz to win 6–1, 6–3, 6–7 (2), 6–4 and reach his second Australian Open semifinal on Wednesday in Melbourne.
Zverev, from Germany, will face third-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev in Friday’s semifinal. He'll be looking for his second straight win against a Top 5 opponent in a Grand Slam after recording his first-ever such victory against Alcaraz.
The win for Zverev, the World No. 6, was powered by his dominant first serve, which he landed 85 percent of the time. He was up two sets and serving for the match at 5–3 when his serve failed him for the first time, with Alcaraz getting his first break.
The break gave Alcaraz a burst in momentum and slightly shook Zverev, who lost four points on his serve in the tiebreak.
The two played to a stalemate in the fourth set until Zverev broke Alcaraz at 4–4, then served out for the win in three hours and six minutes.
Zverev admitted in his on-court interview after the match that he got ahead of himself in the third set as the thought of victory against the second-seeded Spaniard crept into his mind.
“We are all human and it is a great honor to play against guys like him,” he said. “When you’re so close to winning your brain starts going and it is not always helpful, but I’m happy that I got there in the end. I fought back quite well in the fourth set, didn’t let go and I’m very happy that I finished the match.”
Zverev advanceded to 5–3 in his career against Alcaraz.
He'll be facing the World No. 3 when he plays Medvedev, who survived a 7–6 (4), 2–6, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4 match against No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland to book a spot in his third Australian Open semifinal.
It will be the first meeting in a Grand Slam between the two. Medvedev holds an 11–7 lead in head-to-head play against Zverev.
Zverev discussed a medical timeout he took to address a toe issue but said he wouldn’t let it stop him.
“I have a lot of blood under my toenails which is quite painful, but I would much rather feel the way I’m feeling right now, with a bit of pain here and there but in the semifinals, than be at home right now watching this tournament,” he said. “I’m happy to be here and I’m ready to keep going.”
World No. 1 and 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia will meet No. 4 Jannik Sinner of Italy in the other semifinal.
