Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev has survived his second five-set epic of the Australian Open to advance to a third-consecutive grand slam semi-final.
The 26-year-old set up a final-four meeting with either Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz or Germany’s Alexander Zverev by defeating Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 5-7 6-4 in a thrilling quarter final on Wednesday.
Medvedev was cruising in the fourth set after he broke the ninth seed, but the big-hitting Hurkacz fought back to push the match to a deciding set. After securing the win in three hours and 59 minutes with a tricky drop shot, Medvedev celebrated by blowing three kisses to his box, mainly directed at coach Gilles Cervara.
“I am so destroyed right now,” he said. “I was feeling very tough physically at the end of the second set already and I was like ‘OK, I need to stay tough’. “He (Hurkacz) played good, I don’t even feel tough on myself. “I’m happy that I managed to win and I really like the match point.”
Medvedev was back to his best since making the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year. He then made the final at the US Open, losing to world No.1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets. It followed a concerning form slump after losing the 2022 Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal in heartbreaking circumstances.
Leading two sets to love at Melbourne Park in the decider two years ago, Medvedev looked on his way to a second major title and first in Australia. But Nadal had other ideas, pulling off a remarkable comeback in one of the great grand slam finals.
Medvedev failed to make it past the fourth round in his next four appearances at majors, dropping out of the world’s top 10 after a third-round exit at Melbourne Park last year.
His second-round battle against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori earlier in this year’s tournament went to 3.39am after also going five sets. After walking off the court, Medvedev wrote on a camera: “Just want to sleep now”. “Four in the morning (against Ruusuvuori) was tough situation,” he said. “I like this tournament; I’ve had some tough moments here, for sure, but I love it.
“Every time I play it’s tough for me and my opponent … happy to make my opponents run and happy to run myself.”