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Medvedev, a 25-year-old Russian, is through to his fourth ATP
Tour semifinal of the year. He won the title at Mallorca, Spain,
in June and reached the Australian Open final in February.
Hurkacz, a 24-year-old Pole, lost the match despite never
dropping his serve. He faced just two break points, one in the
first set, one in the third, and saved both.
The contest was a rematch of a Wimbledon fourth-round meeting
that Hurkacz won in five sets.
Medvedev's semifinal opponent will be the United States' John
Isner, who topped 11th-seeded Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (5),
6-4. Isner had one more ace than Monfils, 13-12, but Monfils
amassed 11 double faults to Isner's two.
Another U.S. player, Reilly Opelka matched his best result of
the season by defeating 10th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista
Agut 6-3, 7-6 (1). Opelka's only previous trip past an event's
quarterfinals this year came when he lost to Spain's Rafael
Nadal in the semifinals at Rome in May.
Opelka piled up 18 aces and two double faults while Bautista
Agut had six aces and no double faults. Like the
Medvedev-Hurkacz match, Opelka and Bautista Agut were rarely
challenged on their serve, with Opelka converting the match's
lone break point midway through the first set.
"To beat Roberto Bautista Agut shows you are at a high level,"
Opelka said. "He is pretty consistent, so if you aren't at a
high level, you don't have a shot against him. I came into the
match with confidence and played flawlessly today."
Third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will oppose Opelka in
the semifinals after dispatching sixth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-1,
6-4.
Tsitsipas won 86 percent of his first-serve points (25 of 29)
and never dropped his serve. He is chasing his third
championship of the season, having prevailed at Monte Carlo in
April and at Lyon, France, in May. He reached three other
tournament finals in 2021, including the French Open.
"Playing against a guy like him, who gets every single ball
back, is always very challenging," Tsitsipas said. "There is
some sort of concentration levels you have to reach to perform
to your best. These kinds of matches always teach me things that
I can expose for next time."
--Field Level Media
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