NEW YORK, BALIPOST.com – Russia’s Daniil Medvedev shook off a leg injury to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final Tuesday at the US Open by defeating three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka while Roger Federer eyed his 46th Grand Slam semi-final berth.
Fifth seed Medvedev’s 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 triumph sent him into a Friday matchup against the later winner between Bulgaria’s 78th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov and 38-year-old Federer, owner of a record 20 Grand Slam titles.
“I feel really strange about this match but I’m really happy to be in my first semi-final,” Medvedev said.
Medvedev struggled with a sore left quadriceps muscle that made him consider quitting the match in the first set.
“Before the match I was feeling perfect. In the first set I think I pulled my quadriceps,” Medvedev said.
“I had a really big pain in my quadriceps and thought I wasn’t going to continue the match.”
Medvedev took a medical timeout and had the area taped and took a painkiller.
“In the fourth set, I started feeling the painkiller and started moving better,” he said. “For sure I hope to be ready for the semis.”
Medvedev, at 23, becomes the youngest US Open semi-finalist since Novak Djokovic in 2010 and Russia’s first Slam semi-finalist since Mikhail Youzhny at the 2010 US Open.
Swiss third seed Federer, who has a record 45 Slam semi-final visits, hopes to become the oldest Slam semi-finalist since Jimmy Connors at age 39 at the 1991 US Open.
Wawrinka, foiled in a bid for his second US Open title in four seasons, said he did not think Medvedev would be holding the trophy on Sunday.
“He can, but I don’t think he will. I think it’s going to be really difficult,” Wawrinka said. “Because he looks to start to be tired, and he has to beat some more tougher player in the semi-final, Roger or Grigor, and then in the final. (AFP)
