“Been kicking my a*s a lot,” Ahead of an impending semifinal, Alexander Zverev breaks his silence on his rivalry with Daniil Medvedev

They have faced each other 18 times in their careers since 2016, with the Russian winning 11 of those matches.

“Been kicking my a*s a lot,” Ahead of an impending semifinal, Alexander Zverev breaks his silence on his rivalry with Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev (L), Alexander Zverev (R) (Images via X)

Germany’s Alexander Zverev stormed into the semi-final of the Australian Open to set himself up against Daniil Medvedev, with the match scheduled for Friday (January 26th).

In the quarter-final clash against Carlos Alcaraz, Zverev won the first two sets, but the former fought hard and made a comeback in the third set.

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It wasn’t Alcaraz’s day at all. Zverev needed to win just one set, which he did to win with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2–7) and eliminate the Spanish sensation. The two-time Grand Slam champion has never reached the semifinals of the Australian Open; he even played his first quarterfinal in Melbourne.

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Last year, the 20-year-old failed to participate in the tournament due to injury. And now, he will have to wait for another year to try his luck in Melbourne.

As Zverev will face Medvedev in the last four, his comment on the Russian player in an episode of Netflix’s Break Point, which highlighted their rivalry, has surfaced on social media. 

He (Medvedev) has been kicking my a*s a lot.
Zverev had said

Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev head-to-head stats

Daniil Medvedev defeated Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in an epic quarterfinal clash. After losing the first set, the Pole dominated in the second set, but Medvedev did not easily give up. He won the third set, lost the fourth, before taking the decider to win with a score of 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Alexander Zverev
Daniil Medvedev (L), Alexander Zverev (R) (Images via X)

The semifinals are going to be another epic encounter between Medvedev and Zverev. They have faced each other 18 times in their career since 2016, with the Russian winning 11 of those matches.

Medvedev and Zverev last faced each other at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2023. The third seed knocked Zverev out of the tournament with a scoreline of 7-6 (7), 6-4. They never faced each other at a Grand Slam event despite playing so many matches against each other, so Friday’s semifinals will be their first encounter at a Grand Slam stage.

And while Medvedev is searching for his second Grand Slam title, Zverev is eyeing his first one. The 27-year-old Russian lifted his maiden major title at the 2021 US Open by beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Though Zverev never lifted a Grand Slam title, he made it to the last four for the seventh time in Grand Slam events after his win over Carlos Alcaraz. The 26-year-old last played a semifinal in Melbourne back in 2020, and he only reached a Grand Slam final once, at the 2020 US Open, and lost to Dominic Thiem.

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