NEW YORK—Coaching quirky Daniil Medvedev is like coaching "a genius", says the Russian's coach, Gilles Cervara.

The fifth-seeded Medvedev overcame a quadriceps injury and three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to storm into his first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open.

More: Medvedev Into US Open Semifinal

Coach Cervara says Medvedev's all-court savvy reflect his unique personality.

"His game is like his personality: very different," Cervara told the media. "I said already once it's like to coach a genius. Sometimes a genius, you don't understand them. It's like this. They are different. And you have to connect to this guy like he is. I think we do it quite good."

After becoming the first Russian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Mikhail Youzhny at the 2010 US Open, Medvedev revealed he thought he might have to retire due to his quadriceps issue.

The 23-year-old Russian has two days to recover before facing either 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer or Grigor Dimitrov for a spot in the final and his coach downplayed the severity of the injury as "not a big deal."

"I know that what he has, I think it's not a big deal," Cervara said. "You know, he had already this in the past. So we will manage this because he has two days off before the semifinal. So we will work on it to make him ready for Friday."

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