Russian
Daniil Medvedev
, world number three, advanced today to the semifinals of the Australian Open, which takes place in Melbourne, after beating Poland's
Hubert Hurkacz
(9th) 7-6 (7-4 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, after finishing his second round match against the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori almost at four in the morning, after 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 after the end of the match.
The Muscovite's only victory in three sets at the Australian Open was against 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 main seeds reserved a place in the semifinals, and the full place could be confirmed if the second ranked world player,
Carlos Alcaraz
, surpasses the German
Alexander Zverev
(6th) in the last scheduled match at the Rod Laver Arena.
The remaining semifinal will be played by the Serbian world number one,
Novak Djokovic
, and the Italian
Jannik Sinner
(4th).
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 against 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, against the winner of the clash between the Russian Anna Kalinskaya (75th) and the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (15th).