A drained Daniil Medvedev scrapped his way into a third Australian Open semi-final with a five-set victory over Hubert Hurkacz.
Ninth seed Hurkacz, who was looking to make the last four at a grand slam for only the second time, twice fought back from a set down but Medvedev came out on top 7-6 (4) 2-6 6-3 5-7 6-4 after three hours and 59 minutes.
The Russian finished it off with a drop shot before blowing kisses towards his box.
The marathon man does it again! 👏@DaniilMedwed is through to the semi-finals in Melbourne for the third time! 🔥 @AustralianOpen | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/a1vksGG41L
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 24, 2024
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Medvedev will now try to reach the final for the third time in four years, and he said: “I’m so destroyed right now. I was feeling very tired physically at the end of the second set already.
“In the fourth set, he played good, I wasn’t beating myself up. I had no more concentration, I thought, ‘I just have to try my best to do whatever I can. If I lose, I lose and I go home. It’s OK’. I’m happy that like this I managed to win and I really liked the match point.”
It was a back-and-forth contest throughout between the two big servers, who both move tremendously well for such tall men.
Medvedev edged the first set on a tie-break and looked to be in full control when, having dropped the second, he took the third and moved a break ahead in the fourth.
But Hurkacz, who had won his last two matches against the Russian and their only previous grand slam meeting at Wimbledon in 2021, did not allow his head to drop and levelled at 4-4.
It was now Medvedev under real pressure on serve, and Hurkacz clinched his opportunity to force a decider when his opponent sent a forehand long.
Medvedev had survived a five-setter in the second round, coming from two sets down to defeat Emil Ruusuvuori at nearly 4am.
And the third seed was not to be denied, a break in the seventh game proving the difference.
