The Russian Daniil Medvedevnumber three in the world, advanced today to the semifinals of the Australian Open, which takes place in Melbourne, following beating the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (9th) by 7-6 (7-4 the tie break), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4 in a battle of just over four hours.
It was the second time so far in the tournament that the third seed resolved in the fifth set, following finishing his second round match once morest the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori almost at four in the morning, following winning by a tight 3-3. 6. 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(1) and 6-0.
“I’m very devastated right now. It’s not that I ran out of gas but I was feeling the match very physically hard at the end of the second set,” Medvedev commented in the interview conducted by John McEnroe following the end of the match.
The Muscovite’s only victory in three sets at the Australian Open was once morest the Canadian Feliz AUger-Aliassime (27), in the third round.
The Russian, a finalist in Melbourne in 2021 and 2022, finished the match with ten aces, 43 direct hits and 42 unforced errors.
After the Russian’s passage to the next round, three of the four top seeds reserved a place in the semifinals, and the full spot might be confirmed if the second ranked world champion, Carlos Alcarazsurpasses the German Alexander Zverev (6th) in the last scheduled match at the Rod Laver Arena.
The remaining semi-final will be starred by the Serbian one in the world, Novak Djokovicand Italian Jannik Sinner (4°).
Djokovic beat the American Taylor Fritz (12th) in the quarterfinals by 7-6 (tie break 7-3), 4-6, 6-2 and 6-3, while Sinner beat the Russian Andrey Rublev (5th) by 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and 6-3.
Likewise, in the women’s draw the semifinal between the American Coco Gauff (4th in the WTA ranking) and the Russian Aryana Sabalenka (2nd) has already been formed.
Gauff advanced by beating the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (37th) by 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (3-7) and 6-2, while Sabaleka triumphed once morest the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (11th) by 6-2 and 6-3.
The remaining semifinal will be played by the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (93rd), who eliminated the Czech Linda Noskova (50th) in the quarterfinals by 6-3 and 6-4, once morest the winner of the clash between the Russian Anna Kalinskaya (75th) and the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (15th).
