Sascha Zverev had a blunt answer about facing Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Zverev on Wednesday beat Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of the Aussie Open in Melbourne. Zverev rolled in the first two sets, winning 6-1 and 6-3, but Alcaraz came back to win the third set in a tiebreak. Then Zverev came back to close out the match in the fourth set, winning 6-4.
Zverev will face Medvedev next. Medvedev beat Hubert Hurkacz earlier in the day in a five-set match that nearly took four hours.
Medvedev leads their head-to-head rivalry 11-7 and went 5-1 against Zverev in 2023. Zverev is well aware of that.
During his interview with Jim Courier after being Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, Zverev spoke bluntly about his matchup with Medvedev.
“He’s been kicking my a– a lot over the last year or so,” Zverev admitted. “But maybe this will be it.”
The two players have never met in a grand slam event. Zverev did beat Medvedev in three sets in Cincinnati last year, so it’s not like a win over Medvedev would be impossible. When you consider how well Zverev is playing in Melbourne, it feels like this match will be different.
You can see Zverev’s full interview:
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