- By Adam Chowdhury
- ` Sport
January 22, 2024, 09:01 GMT
Updated 3 minutes ago
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Carlos Alcaraz has now reached the quarterfinals of every Grand Slam tournament
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Venue: Melbourne Park. Dates: 14th – 28th January |
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Coverage: Tennis Breakfast commentary daily from 07:00 GMT on Radio 5 Sports Extra and ` Sounds, with selected live text commentary and match reports on the ` Sport website and app |
Second seed Carlos Alcaraz said he played “almost perfect” in his fourth-round victory over Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic at the Australian Open.
The two-time Grand Slam winner won 6:4, 6:4, 6:0 and reached the quarterfinals for the first time at Melbourne Park.
“I'm feeling better every day,” said the 20-year-old Alcaraz, who will next play against number six seed Alexander Zverev.
Daniil Medvedev defeated Portuguese Nuno Borges and Poland's Hubert Hurkacz defeated wildcard Arthur Cazaux.
The German Zverev advanced with a five-set win over British number one Cameron Norrie.
Alcaraz comes through with a dominant performance
Spaniard Alcaraz put in a dominant performance and reached the last eight here for the first time. He impressed the crowd with powerful groundstrokes and breathtaking moves against world number 60 Kecmanovic.
The former world number one failed to reach a break point and scored 43 wins, compared to 14 from his opponent, who simply couldn't gain a foothold in the game despite some exciting rallies.
“I did everything almost perfectly,” Alcaraz said. “I think it was a very good game for me.
“I pushed him to the limit on every point and obviously he played a lot of matches in five sets so he wasn't at 100 percent,” he added. “Every game I play here on Rod Laver [Arena] I feel more comfortable.
Looking ahead to Wednesday's quarter-final against Zverev, Wimbledon winner Alcaraz said: “If I play at this level, I will have my chances.”
“I love playing against Sasha [Zverev] – I think we bring a high level of tennis and high intensity. I’ll try to play my best tennis and see what happens.”
“I know what I’m worth” – Medvedev
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Daniil Medvedev lost consecutive Australian Open finals against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in 2021 and 2022
Earlier in the day, third seed Medvedev failed to convert two match points at 5-4 in the third set before beating world number 69 Borges 6-3, 7-6 (7: 4), 5:7, 6:1.
Medvedev was in control of the game before losing his composure in the third set and making several double faults, although he served well throughout the match with 13 aces and 75% of points won on first serves.
“He got me going [in the] third sentence and that's why I missed a little too much. To be honest, I was pretty dead. In the fourth set I managed to increase my energy,” said 27-year-old Medvedev.
The 26-year-old Borges deserved to take the game into the fourth set, showing high standards to keep the rallies alive and hitting exquisite drop shots, but he couldn't maintain his form to take one to force a decisive sentence.
“Nuno was incredible with the drop shots today. I was not happy that he took drop shots because they were really incredible,” Medvedev said.
“The third set was physically tough because he played very aggressively. As soon as I hit a shot in the rally that wasn't aggressive or deep enough, he just gave it full force. That was pretty impressive.”
Russia's Medvedev has reached five Grand Slam finals and won just one at the 2021 US Open. He faced either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in each final – two players who have won 46 major titles between them.
The two-time Australian Open runner-up said he was “ready” to go one step further and claim the title.
“I know what I am worth. I know how well I can play. I proved it at the US Open, especially to myself, by playing what I think are some strong opponents in terms of style of play. I managed to beat them,” said Medvedev.
“I'm ready. Hopefully I can show it on the tennis court. We can talk forever about who is ready, who is the favorite. You have to win.”
Medvedev will face ninth seed Hurkacz in the last eight after the 26-year-old ended Frenchman Cazaux's brilliant run.
World number 122 Cazaux had beaten eighth seed Holger Rune in the second round but was unable to pull off another upset as Hurkacz won 7-6 (8-6), 7- 6 (7-3), 6-4 won.
“I served well and he served well too, so I had to stay aggressive and I'm really happy with today's performance,” said former Wimbledon semi-finalist Hurkacz.
“I haven’t been in the Grand Slam quarterfinals too many times and I’m super excited.”
It will be Hurkacz's first quarterfinal in Melbourne and he has a 3-2 record against his opponent Medvedev, although the Russian is 2-1 against the Pole on hard courts.
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Hubert Hurkacz will play his quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday, the same day Carlos Alcaraz meets Alexander Zverev
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