US Open 2023: Medvedev beats the heat and Rublev to reach semis

Daniil Medvedev advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals for the fourth time in five years, overcoming fellow Russian Andrey Rublev and hot, humid conditions 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.

Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, waves to the crowd after defeating Andrey Rublev, of Russia, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. | Photo Credit: AP

Daniil Medvedev advanced to the U.S. Open semifinals for the fourth time in five years, overcoming fellow Russian Andrey Rublev and hot, humid conditions 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.

Medvedev, the third seed and 2021 U.S. Open champion, appeared to be having breathing problems in the near 95-degree Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) heat, twice calling for a doctor on changeovers.

But it didn’t seem to show in his play. Medvedev frequently traded long rallies with Rublev — 34 strokes being the longest — and scrambled for every shot. He ran nearly the length of the court to hit a winner off a drop shot in the final set to earn his first match point. Rublev saved that one and three more in an 18-point final game before finally succumbing on the fifth, with an exhausted forehand into the net.

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“The only good thing I see in these conditions is both suffer,” a sweat-drenched Medvedev said in his on-court interview in a partially closed Arthur Ashe Stadium. “Honestly at the end of the first set I kind of couldn’t see the ball anymore. I kind of played with sensations. You just try to go for it, try to run, try to catch the ball.”

For Rublev, the No. 8 seed and such a close friend to Medvedev that he’s the godfather to his first-born daughter, it marked more Grand Slam frustration: It was his ninth trip to the quarterfinals of a major without advancing to the semis, and the third time he was denied by Medvedev.

Medvedev, who also appeared to have breathing problems in his previous four-set win against Alex de Minaur, at one point in the first set was checked by a doctor with a stethoscope and administered an inhaler. While toweling off sweat midway through the third set, he grumbled to a courtside camera, “One player gonna die and they’re going to see.”

Medvedev, also the runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2019 and a semifinalist in 2020, will await the winner of the match later on Wednesday between top-seeded defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and No. 12, Alexander Zverev, who won a fourth-round matchup Monday against Jannik Sinner that lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes.

The other men’s semifinals matchup Friday is already set, with No. 2-seeded Novak Djokovic taking on hard-hitting American Ben Shelton.