Novak Djokovic 'quite likes to play in Australia!' jokes Daniil Medvedev after ATP Adelaide win ahead of Australian Open
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Updated 06/01/2023 at 08:36 GMT
It has been a very fine start to the 2023 campaign for Daniil Medvedev, who continued his imperious form with a comfortable win over his countryman, Karen Khachanov to reach the semi-finals in Adelaide. The 26-year-old has finished as the runner-up in the last two editions of the Australian Open and is desperate to go one step further this time around at Melbourne Park.
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Daniil Medvedev secured his place in the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 1 event with a straight-sets victory over Karen Khachanov before making a joke about potentially facing Novak Djokovic in the last four.
The 26-year-old has made a very impressive start to the 2023 season and continued his fine form with a straightforward 6-3 6-3 victory over his compatriot at the Australian Open warm-up event in Adelaide.
It took one hour and 17 minutes for Medvedev to come through the match - the pair's first tour-level meeting since 2019 - as he set up a clash in the semi-finals with either Djokovic or seventh seed Denis Shapovalov.
Asked about the prospect of facing the 21-time Grand Slam singles champion, who is targeting a record-extending 10th title at Melbourne Park this year after having been deported before the start of last year's event, Medvedev could only laugh about the difficulty involved if he has to take on the Serb.
“I think one of them has a lot of titles and quite likes to play in Australia!” Medvedev joked in his on-court interview about potentially facing Djokovic in Adelaide for a place in the final of the event.
“I think he didn’t lose for a long time here, but I’m going to watch their match. You never know what is going to happen.
"Denis is such a strong player, and even if he didn’t manage to beat Novak yet, this moment is going to come one day, because he is such a strong player.”
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On coming through what could have been a very tough encounter with Khachanov, Medvedev was clearly very pleased with the form he is showing early on this year.
“It’s been a long time,” Medvedev said of facing his countryman. “We didn’t play since 2019, that’s pretty long. Hopefully, we can play more matches at later stages of tournaments.
"It’s never easy, I’m happy that I managed to really raise my level, especially at the end of both sets, and I’m really happy to be through to the semis.”
Medvedev has rather cruelly come in as the runner-up in the last two editions of the Australian Open with defeats to Djokovic and Rafael Nadal respectively, and he is targeting belated glory at Melbourne Park this time.
Djokovic, meanwhile, has received a very warm reception from the fans in Adelaide upon his return to the country following the debacle of last year's deportation. If he can prevail at the Australian Open this month, he will draw level with his great rival, Nadal, on 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
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