Daniil grinds through Russian gains first AO last 4

MANILA, Philippines — A badly cramping Daniil Medvedev won a brutal all-Russian clash against Andrey Rublev Thursday to move into his first Australian Open semifinal, warning he was playing at “an amazing level”.

The fourth seed had more firepower than his younger, eighth-seeded rival in scorching conditions on Rod Laver Arena, grinding him down, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2, to extend his win-streak to 19 matches.

His reward is a last-four clash with either 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal or fifth-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“I would say the three last points when I was getting ready for the serve I could not really move my left leg,” he said, with both players cramping in the “super-tough” conditions.

“But I’ve known him a long time and I know how to neutralize his big shots. That’s definitely one of the best matches I’ve played lately, not even just here but last year,” Medvedev added.

Meanwhile, big-serving Jennifer Brady revealed Wednesday that she once loathed tennis but has “grown to love it” after staging a comeback victory over fellow American Jessica Pegula to reach semifinals.

The 22nd seed finished strongly with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win and will now face Czech 25th seed Karolina Muchova, who earlier stunned world number one Ashleigh Barty.

Brady, the last woman standing among those forced into a hard 14-day quarantine after arriving in Australia, is into the final four for the second time in the last three Slams.

Before last year’s US Open, where she lost an epic semifinal to eventual champion Naomi Osaka, Brady had been bounced out of the first round four times in her previous five majors.

Medvedev is now riding a 19-match run dating back to November, taking in titles at the Paris 1000, the ATP Finals in London and the ATP Cup with Russia in the lead-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year.

He is into his first semi at Melbourne Park as he continues to knock on the door of Grand Slam success, having reached the 2019 US Open final and the last four in New York in 2020.

“Andrey I think at this moment is on fire, starting last year, so he was definitely for me one of the favorites to go far in this tournament,” Medvedev said.

“To win this match in three sets, especially how physical it was, I mean, it was an amazing level from me, and I’m really happy about it.”

Medvedev owned a 3-0 advantage against his former junior foe ahead of their clash, having beaten him over three tough sets at their last meeting in the 2020 US Open quarterfinals.

And little separated them in the opening set on Thursday as they traded long baseline rallies until a stunning passing shot gave Medvedev his first break points in game 12, which he calmly converted to take the set.

Using ice-towels to keep his temperature down, Medvedev was relentless.