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Melbourne (AP) - The Russian Grand Slam title contender Daniil Medvedev has expanded two impressive series and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time.
The ATP Finals champion and fourth in the world rankings gave his compatriot Andrej Rublev no chance and won 7: 5, 6: 3, 6: 2 in 2:05 hours.
In the fight for a place in his second final at one of the four most important tennis tournaments, Medvedev will meet the Spaniard Rafael Nadal or the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in Melbourne on Friday.
"It's never easy," said Medvedev after the success against his friend and teammate, who were visibly troubled by the heat.
"But we all want to win and go to the semifinals of a Grand Slam."
This is the third time the leader of a strong Russian tennis generation has made it to the finals at the US Open 2019 (loss to Rafael Nadal) and the semifinals in New York 2020 (loss to eventual champion Dominic Thiem) - but now for the for the first time at the Australian Open in 2021. And that sovereign, although he too had cramps in the end and after the transformed match point first had himself treated by the physiotherapist before he went to the microphone for the winner's interview.
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Far more impressive than his Grand Slam record, however, are two numbers that confirm Medvedev's current form: For him it was the 19th win in a row across all seasons and the eleventh in a row against a top ten man.
Since the defeat by Thiem in New York, none of the industry giants has defeated the emerging Russian.
On the way to the title at the ATP Finals for the eight best players of the season in London, Medvedev defeated Djokovic (group game), Nadal (semifinals) and Thiem (finals) one after the other.
He had previously won the Masters 1000 event in Paris at the end of last year.
At the beginning of the year, he and Rublev won the ATP Cup, which was also played in Melbourne, and won all of his four singles.
Much more unfortunate was the working day for the Australian hope for the title Ashleigh Barty.
The world number one missed the semi-finals after a 6-1, 2-0 lead and a controversial medical break from her opponent.
The 24-year-old Australian lost against the Czech Karolina Muchova 6: 1, 3: 6, 2: 6.
The 2019 French Open winner gave away the chance of her premiere title at the home Grand Slam and the first tournament victory of an Australian in Melbourne since Chris O'Neil in 1978.
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Muchova will now meet Jennifer Brady, trained by German coach Michael Geserer, in the semifinals on Thursday (around 6.00 a.m. CET / Eurosport).
The other semi-final before (not before 4 a.m.) will be contested by the 23-time Grand Slam tournament winner Serena Williams from the USA and the US Open winner Naomi Osaka from Japan.
Then after the five-day lockdown, spectators should be allowed to return to the system.
The lockdown will end as planned at midnight, announced the Prime Minister of the state of Victoria, Daniel Andrews.
No new corona case had occurred in the Australian metropolis in the past few days, which is why the strict measures could be relaxed again, said Andrews.
On the remaining four days of the tournament, a maximum of 7477 spectators per so-called session on the day and in the evening are now allowed on the facility, as the organizers announced.
In the quarter-finals, Muchova took a time-out after falling 2-0 in the second set, although she was not injured, as she later admitted.
Her head turned, said the 24-year-old.
She had her blood pressure and temperature measured, was given ice to cool her down, and left the place.
After a ten-minute break, the number 27 in the world rankings came back to the stadium, finally won the match after almost two hours of play and reached the first semi-final of her career in one of the four most important tournaments.
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Her opponent Jennifer Brady made it into the round of the best four players at the US Open for the first time last year, but failed because of the eventual tournament winner Osaka.
The 25-year-old also needed three sets in the American quarter-finals before she defeated her good friend Jessica Pegula 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 1.
Brady was the only quarter-finalist who was not allowed to leave the hotel during her 14-day quarantine due to a corona case on her flight to Australia before the tournament.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210217-99-473363 / 3
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