After ending an 882-day wait between titles with his 21st ATP-level victory in Almaty last October, Daniil Medvedev has placed himself firmly in contention to win another at the Brisbane International.
With a hard-fought 6-7(3) 6-3 6-6-2 victory over Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak on Friday evening, the top-seeded Medvedev moved into the 52nd semifinal of his career – second only to the prolific Novak Djokovic, a 127-time semifinalist, among active players.
“He played great. I think it was a high quality match. I would honestly say probably a top-10 match in term s of the shot-making,” said Medvedev, who required more than two hours to overcome Majchrzak, the world No.59 from Poland who gained Brisbane main draw entry as a lucky loser.
After dropping the first set in a tight tiebreak, the 29-year-old reasserted authority in the final two sets, finishing with 41 winners (including 16 aces) compared to 18 from Majchrzak.
“I’m super happy with myself,” Medvedev added. “There’s only one game that I probably could have done better in the first set. I managed to stay composed, hit some great shots, win the match. That’s the most important [thing].”
Mevedev, who held the world No.1 ranking for 16 weeks in 2022, is aiming to improve on his previous appearance at the tournament in 2019, when he was runner-up to Kei Nishikori.
For others, though, there is the chance to claim a breakthrough ATP trophy. Medvedev next faces Alex Michelsen, who moved into the final four at Brisbane with a 6-3 7-6(7) victory over fellow American Sebastian Korda.
In a milestone week, Michelsen has also claimed has wins this week over James Duckworth, plus close friend and countryman Learner Tier. At age 21, he is the fourth-youngest men’s semifinalist in Brisbane International history.
Michelsen attributes his best start to a season with hard work alongside recently appointed coach, Kristof Vliegen
“We did a lot over the off-season, working on being a little more offensive-minded. To beat the best guys, you’ve got to take it from them- they’re going to give it you,” he said of Vliegen.
“Working on that, working on the serve, forehand, volleys, slice. You name it, we’ve worked on everything and I think this semifinal is a result of all the hard work we did.”
Another American, Brandon Nakashima, moved into the semifinals with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Belgian qualifier Raphael Collignon, who stunned two-time Brisbane champion Grigor Dimitrov in the previous round.
In a stellar week for American men at the Queensland Tennis Centre, Aleksandar Kovacevic also advanced to the semifinals, claiming a 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Targeting his first ATP title in Brisbane, the world No.58 is also a winner this week over Nick Kyrgios and No.7 seed Cameron Norrie.
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