By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday January 24, 2024
Daniil Medvedev celebrated his 100th career Grand Slam match with a gritty victory over Poland's Hubert Hurkacz to reach the Australian Open semifinals.
Photo Source: Getty
Daniil Medvedev left it all out on the court once again on Wednesday night in Melbourne, as he edged Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in a grueling five-setter, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to reach his third Australian Open semifinal.
Afterwards, the Russian, who has spent over 16 hours on court and won two five-setters in his first five rounds in Melbourne, summed things up: “I’m so destroyed right now,” he said.
It certainly appeared that way as Medvedev looked to be wilting in the heat near the end of the fourth set, as he watched a 4-2 lead vanish like vapor into the air inside Rod Laver Arena.
Suddenly the ever dangerous Hurkacz was zoning, and he grooved through five of six games to push Medvedev to a fifth set, holding all the momentum as the pair went to their chairs to gather themselves for set five.
“Not that I ran out of gas but I was feeling very tough at the end of the second set, physically, already,” Medvedev explained to the crowd after his 75th career Grand Slam singles victory. “I was like ‘Okay I need to try to stay tough.’
“I just had to try my best to do whatever I can, and that’s it – If I lose I go home and that’s okay. I’m happy that like this I managed to win.”
Five sets. A common theme at this Australian Open, which has now seen 33 of them in total, a number that is two shy of the all-time record for a Grand Slam, set by the US Open in 1983.
Also a common theme for Medvedev and Hurkacz, who each had to go the distance in the second round. Hurkacz rallied from two sets to one down against Czech qualifier Jakub Mensik; Medvedev battled from the brink, coming from two sets down to defeat Emil Ruusuvuori in a titanic four hour and 23-minute tussle
Later Medvedev would say that he was already planning his air travel home in his head, thinking that he'd have trouble catching a flight given that he was playing in a match that would eventually finish after 3:30 AM
Not to worry, he's still alive in the draw.
Hurkacz may have held the hot hand but it was Medvedev who made the most of the opportunity in set five, breaking spectacularly for 4-3 and then saving a break point in the next game, as Hurkacz threatened yet again, to consolidate for 5-3.
Hurkacz would hold to stay alive but Medvedev kept his nerve and served out the final game in style, floating a devilish drop shot winner to seal his victory in three hours and 59 minutes.
“I really liked the match point,” Medvedev said with a smile, drawing applause from the crowd during his post match interview.
A Wrinkle to Start
Medvedev is known for his deep return position, but elected to change things up and stand up near the baseline to return Hurkacz's serve in the beginning of the match. It came as a surprise, given that Hurkacz is the tournament's ace leader (he fired 16 tonight) and the player who was winning the highest percentage of first-serve points. The tactic paid dividends instantly, with Medvedev breaking his first return game.
Hurkacz finished the match winning 81 percent of his first-serve points, but Medvedev's surprise strategy helped keep the Pole to just 67 percent points won - enough to claim the all-important opening set.
The No.3 seed said that his plan was to move in to take the return because Hurkacz’s serve bounces so high that he has had too much difficulty returning it from deep in the court in the past.
“Little surprise here and there, and I’m happy that it kind of worked,” he said.
Medvedev converted four of nine break points in the match overall, while Hurkacz broke serve five times from fifteen opportunities. The Pole did a great job of attacking Medvedev’s second serve, winning 41 of 70 such points, but his opportunities were limited in a fifth set that saw Medvedev connect on 75 percent of his first serves.
Hurkacz, playing in his second Grand Slam quarterfinal, drops to 3-3 lifetime against Medvedev and 1-1 in major quarterfinals, while the Russian improves to 8-1 lifetime in major quarterfinals and a perfect 8-0 in Grand Slam quarterfinals played on hard court.
He will face the winner of tonight’s quarterfinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in Friday’s semifinals.