Europe 1 with AFP 3 p.m., January 20, 2023

American Sebastian Korda eliminated Russian Daniil Medvedev this Friday in the third round of the Australian Open, in three tight sets 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

The 31st in the world will play Sunday against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (11th) to try to climb for the first time in his career in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.

Daniil Medvedev, 8th in the world and finalist of the last two editions, was eliminated in the third round of the Australian Open by the American Sebastian Korda (31st), winner of the Russian 7-6 (9-7), 6- 3, 7-6 (7-4), Friday in Melbourne.

Medvedev, who had become world number 1 a month after his final in the Australian Major last year, never found the solution against Korda who had 50 winning shots (against 28 for Medvedev).

"I did the right thing despite the ups and downs"

It is therefore Korda who will face the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (11th) on Sunday to try to climb for the first time in his career in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.

"It's amazing, I did the right thing despite the highs and lows of tension," said the 22-year-old American whose father Petr won the Australian Open in 1998, two years before Sebastian was born.

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The latter effectively took Medvedev at his own game by controlling him from the baseline.

He was always in front of the score, forcing the Russian to chase after him.

Thus in the first set, Korda took the lead with a double break to lead 4-1 and, if Medvedev recovered to 6-6, it was the American who won the decisive game.

Then in the second set, Korda made the entry break to lead 3-0 and kept the advantage until the end.

He again took the serve of his third set entry opponent, to lead 2-0, but Medvedev came back to 4-4 and seemed to regain confidence.

Poor performance for Daniil Medvedev

However, in the tiebreak, Korda quickly pulled away 6-1 with five match points to go.

Medvedev saved the first on a service winner and Korda looked nervous as he conceded two service points on unforced errors.

He nevertheless recovered well and concluded the match with a magnificent winning uncrossed forehand.

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Medvedev had reached at least the round of 16 in Melbourne in his previous four appearances.

For his first appearance last year, Korda was eliminated in the third round by Spaniard Pablo Carreno.

He has already played in two round of 16 Grand Slams, in 2020 at Roland-Garros and in 2021 at Wimbledon.