‘Destroyed’ Daniil Medvedev grinds into Australian Open semi-finals
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Daniil Medvedev of Russia during his Australian Open quarter-final match against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
MELBOURNE – Two-time Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev had no more energy left and will need a well-deserved break, as he ground past big-serving Hubert Hurkacz into the semi-finals on Jan 24.
As he edged closer to winning a second Grand Slam, he admitted that his latest match had “destroyed” him physically.
The world No. 3 eventually tamed the Polish ninth seed 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in draining heat on Rod Laver Arena after a contest lasting nearly four hours, and will meet either Spanish second seed Carlos Alcaraz or German sixth seed Alexander Zverev for a spot in the Jan 28 final.
Playing his 100th Grand Slam match, the 27-year-old Russian is now into an eighth major semi-final, but has only gone to win only one title – at the 2021 US Open.
He made the final in Melbourne in 2021 and 2022, but succumbed to Novak Djokovic and then Rafael Nadal.
“I am so destroyed right now,” said Medvedev, who saved 10 of the 15 break points he faced, grizzled and moaned and finally secured a place in the last four.
“Not that I ran out of gas, but I was honestly feeling it physically at the end of the second set and I said to stay tough.
“Fourth set I just (had) no more concentration left and I’m like, ‘OK, I have to try my best to do whatever I can and let’s see. If I lose, I lose, I go home and it’s OK’.”
The Russian, who had also played a five-set marathon into the early hours of the morning in the second round against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, added: “I’m happy that I managed to win.”
Hurkacz has one of the biggest and best serves in the game, but Medvedev is arguably the game’s top deep-court returner and he went on the attack from the outset, breaking immediately.
The Pole’s nerves settled and a backhand winner from the baseline in Game 6 brought the first set back onto level terms. It went to a tiebreak, where too many unforced errors from the 26-year-old proved costly.
Angry at his lapse in concentration, Hurkacz came out firing at the start of the second set, breaking Medvedev straight away and again in the seventh game to level the match.
But a rare double fault from the Pole – only his second of the match – while 30-40 down on his opening serve in the third set again gave Medvedev the upper hand.
With Hurkacz stuttering, the Russian dialled up the pressure in the fourth set with an early break, but he faltered on serve at 4-3 to let Hurkacz back and it went to a deciding set.
The critical moment of the match came when Hurkacz was serving at 3-3 in the fifth and sent a backhand long to give Medvedev the break he ultimately needed.
With the most delicate of drop shots on match point, the Russian then secured his spot in the semi-finals after a hard day’s work.
“I really liked the match point!” Medvedev added of the unique finish. AFP, REUTERS
