“In my mind, I knew,” Daniil Medvedev admits tricking Hubert Hurkacz following his tactics masterclass with Jim Courier at the Australian Open

World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev has once again reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. He was tested to his full limits by Polish No. 1 Hubert Hurkacz, but the Russian somehow prevailed. Medvedev won the match 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 after an epic 3-hour and 59-minute clash on the Rod Laver Arena.

Medvedev has now moved into the semis for the third time at Melbourne Park. On both the previous occasions (2021 and 2022) he won the semis tie to reach the finals. But both times, he had to settle for the runners-up trophy losing to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, respectively.

Following his win over Nuno Borges in the fourth round, Medvedev gave an elaborate on-court interview to former World No. 1 Jim Courier. He took the American on a mini-tour of the court, explaining his return position. The interview’s unique style garnered a lot of attention, especially with the Russian revealing his plans.

But during the match against Hurkacz, the former US Open champ was seen playing from the baseline. It was in total contrast to his interview with Courier and was rightly questioned during his on-court interview with John McEnroe.

It was funny because after in the press conference, they were also asking me about the return. They were like ‘when do you decide to go forward? Are you gonna decide it?’ In my mind I knew that against Hubi, amazing serve and volley. 

said Medvedev

He’s probably the only one where, even if I stay really far back, the ball continues to go up. It doesn’t really go down. So it doesn’t really work to stay there. Talking to Jim, talking in the press conference, I was like ‘I know I’m gonna stay close. But I’m not gonna tell it to you guys right now.

added the Russian, leaving everyone laughing

Today’s win over Hurkacz now takes Medvedev to 53 wins at the hard-court Grand Slams. The feat is remarkable, given only Djokovic with 61 wins is ahead of the Russian since his Major debut in 2017.

Daniil Medvedev defeated Hubert Hurkacz despite winning less points

It was one of those days for Hubert Hurkacz when he did everything right, but the result still swayed in his opponent’s favor. The World No. 9 had better numbers than Daniil Medvedev in every aspect, but it was still not enough for him today.

Coming to the service game, Hurkacz fired 16 aces to Medvedev’s 11 while also making just 5 double faults to the Russian’s 10. The Pole hit 61 winners and 2 return winners while the former World No. 1 managed only 43 winners with 0 return winners.

The World No. 9 lost the match despite having 164 points in comparison to Medvedev’s 156. The only two factors where the Russian was better was in break points conversion. The Pole did win 5/15 break points while Medvedev won 4/9.

But the percentage of conversion was in the Russian’s favor, which ultimately proved to be the difference. The third seed was clutch in breakpoint conversions and as a result, emerged victorious and denied the Pole his maiden Grand Slam semis at Melbourne Park.

In case you missed it:

• WATCH: Daniil Medvedev, who often gives a hard time to his box, sends coach Gilles Cervara kisses after beating Hubert Hurkacz at the Australian Open
• “I don’t care what your name is,” Carlos Alcaraz to have a difficult time against Alexander Zverev’s biggest threat feels Mats Wilander ahead of their Australian Open clash

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