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by IANS |
Melbourne, Feb 17 (IANS) Russian world No.4 Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday beat compatriot Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-final of the 2021 Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena.
Medvedev beat the seventh seed Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 and will now face either world No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas or 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.
ATP Finals champion Medvedev has thus far won all 11 of his matches against top 10 players since the US Open in September 2020. He goes into the semi-finals on a 19-match unbeaten run.
Rublev stretched Medvedev in the first set amid high humidity at the Rod Laver Arena. The two players traded breaks before Medvedev finally capitalised by breaking Rublev to love. Rublev then struggled with the humidity as Medvedev ran riot.
Earlier, World No.1 and former champion Ashleigh Barty was ousted from the 2021 Australian Open in the quarter-final stage on Wednesday after being stunned by Czech world No.25 Karolina Muchova over three sets at the Rod Laver Arena.
Barty lost the match 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 as Muchova continued taking down higher ranked opponents. She had earlier beaten her compatriot and world No.1 6 Karolina Pliskova before beating 18th ranked Elise Mertens of Belgium in the fourth round.
Barty was utterly dominant in the first set and was continuing in the same vein as she led the second set 2-1. Muchova then took a 10-minute injury timeout which she later admitted she took just to compose herself. The match turned on its head after the match as Muchova reeled off the next 11 of the next 15 games to win the match.
She faces Jennifer Brady, who beat Jessica Pegula in an all-American quarter-final. Brady, seeded 22nd, beat Pegula 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 at the Rod Laver Arena.
