The Russian, who will challenge Hurkacz in the quarter-finals in Melbourne, does not feel underestimated compared to the other contenders of the tournament
Daniil Medvedev has reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 2024 and is bidding for a place in the semi-finals. In the next round he will challenge the Polish Hubert Hurkacz and the precedents are in perfect parity.
Daniil suffers from the Pole’s game, but he is the clear favorite to meet one of Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev in the bottom-half semi-final. And to think that during the tournament, the Russian was one step away from elimination, just think of the comeback from two sets down against the Finnish Emil Ruusuvuori.
He has had ups and downs but the ATP No.3 has found a way to reach the top 8 in Melbourne. In the post-match press conference, the Russian tennis player talked about his next opponent, but also spoke about the young Carlitos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who are often indicated as the favourites, on the eve of a Slam.
Will Medvedev think the same way? “Hurkacz is a difficult opponent for me, I lost some of the last matches and I know it’s not easy. He serves really well and has a good return, then if we talk about the number of aces he is the absolute number one.
I think it was the best serve of last year and this will be the key, I must not concede breaks and if it goes to a tiebreak I will have to win it. Tomorrow I will mentally prepare myself for this challenge. Him as a Slam contender? With his service always.
He can play well on every serve and can almost always take you to a tiebreak. Then obviously one will try to break it and that is the key. He made the semi-final at Wimbledon and it’s already a great result. He has won Masters 1000s and when you win a 1000 you are definitely a contender for the Slam win.”
Medvedev without fear
In addition to Djokovic, there is a lot of talk about Alcaraz and Sinner, and a journalist asked Daniil if he felt underestimated.
“I don’t think so, last year we managed to stand out especially in terms of points and looking at the Grand Slam tournaments anyone can go far. It’s a great feeling to be part of this group and I know how much I’m worth. I proved it at the US Open and already managed to beat them.
I’m curious to understand how he will go, in the end what matters is winning. We don’t have many tennis players with Hurkacz’s serve, on the tour I see Djokovic, while Sinner has improved a lot, but Hurkacz’s serve is among the top three on the Tour. It will be difficult but I will try to do everything possible to win,” he told.