Daniil Medvedev soared into the Australian Open 2024 semifinals with a 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3 5-7 6-4 victory over ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz.
The No.3 seed, who has spent 16 hours and 15 minutes on court this fortnight, admitted he was basically running on empty and scrambling to close out the match in warm conditions at Rod Laver Arena.
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“I am so destroyed right now,” laughed Medvedev, wearing an ice towel. “Not that I ran out of gas, but I was feeling very tough physically at the end of the second set already.” The two-time AO finalist struck 43 winners against his Polish rival to secure victory in just under four hours.
“[In the] fourth set, I just [had] no more concentration, I just [had] to try my best to do whatever I can, and let’s see, if I lose, I lose, I go home and it’s okay,” he said.
The 27-year-old must have had the locker room in sight when he served for the match at 4-3 in the fourth before getting broken.
“I’m happy like this, I managed to win and I really liked the match point,” he smiled, referring to the deft drop shot that sealed the win and inspired him to blow kisses at his players’ box. "Really proud with a lot of things in this match."
In the fifth set, the admittedly tired Medvedev was stepping up to the net when facing the wind and began to serve and volley on points just to hasten a result, thinking ‘If I lose, I fly home tomorrow.’
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He said he had similar thoughts during a brutal second round against Emil Ruusuvuori after dropping the first two sets, revealing that he plotted a potential flight path home before securing the comeback.
Medvedev knows that he covers more of the court than other top players, an unavoidable outcome because he elects to return from a position that’s several metres behind the baseline, a move that he explained to Jim Courier in an on-court interview after his fourth round match.
“Every time I play it’s tough, both for me and my opponent,” he said. “This Australian Open, I managed to win four sets [and] five sets, two times [each], so happy to make my opponents run, happy to run myself.”
But against the Polish ninth seed, Medvedev mixed up his return stance, occasionally receiving closer to the baseline in an effort to neutralise some of the height of the balls delivered by Hurkacz’s booming serve.
Medvedev fired 11 aces and served 10 doubles faults during the entertaining clash, and ultimately won 156 points, eight fewer than Hurkacz, whose nickname “Hubi” is etched onto one of his tennis shoes.
The Pole, who boasted several minute-long service holds including one that featured four aces, displayed incredible mobility for his 6’5” frame. His ability to quickly change direction and move his foe corner-to-corner with a mix of blistering groundstrokes and slice off both wings forced Medvedev to produce under pressure.
The third seed saved 10 of 15 break points and won 75 per cent of net points to hold Hurkacz, who he described as one of the top three volleyers on tour, at bay.
“I wish I could have gone a little bit further, but still, I gave it [my] all today, it wasn't enough,” a disappointed Hurkacz said.
Wednesday's triumph advances Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, to the semifinal stage of a major for the eighth time, and a third at Melbourne Park.
“I like this tournament – I had some tough moments here for sure but I love it, I’m happy to be here,” he said.
Medvedev and Hurkacz’s rendezvous was the 33rd five-set match at AO 2024, which sets the Open Era record for most five-set contests at an Australian Open and is only two shy of the 35 five-set battles that were completed at the 1983 US Open.
“Just want to sleep now” Medvedev wrote on camera after securing victory. He now has two sleeps before his semifinal battle on Friday against the victor of the last men’s quarterfinal, between second seed Carlos Alcaraz and sixth seed Alexander Zverev.
There, he’ll aim to join esteemed company: of active players, only Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have reached three or more AO men’s singles finals.