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Carlos Alcaraz sets up Australian Open quarter-final against Alexander Zverev

By Primenewsghana
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Second seed Carlos Alcaraz said he played "almost perfectly" in his fourth-round win over Serb Miomir Kecmanovic at the Australian Open.

The two-time Grand Slam champion won 6-4 6-4 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time at Melbourne Park.

"I'm feeling better and better every day," said Alcaraz, 20, who will play sixth seed Alexander Zverev next.

Elsewhere, Daniil Medvedev defeated Portugal's Nuno Borges and Pole Hubert Hurkacz beat wildcard Arthur Cazaux.

Germany's Zverev advanced with a five-set victory against British number one Cameron Norrie.

Alcaraz through with dominant display

Spaniard Alcaraz produced a dominant display to reach the last eight in Melbourne for the first time, impressing the crowd with powerful groundstrokes and breathtaking movement against world number 60 Kecmanovic.

The former world number one did not face a break point and hit 43 winners compared to 14 from his opponent, who simply could not get a foothold in the match despite playing his part in some exciting rallies.

"I did everything almost perfectly," Alcaraz said. "I think it was a very good match for myself.

"I pushed him to the limit in every point and obviously he has played a lot of matches in five sets so he was not 100 per cent," he added. "Every match I play here on Rod Laver [Arena] I feel more comfortable."

Looking ahead to Wednesday's quarter-final against Zverev, Wimbledon champion Alcaraz said: "Playing at this level I will have my chances.

"I love playing against Sasha [Zverev] - I think we bring a high level of tennis, high intensity. I will try to bring my best tennis and let's see what happens."

I know what I'm worth - Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev hits a backhand volley shotIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,

Daniil Medvedev lost consecutive Australian Open finals in 2021 and 2022 to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal respectively

Earlier in the day, third seed Medvedev failed to convert two match points at 5-4 in the third set before beating world number 69 Borges 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

Medvedev was in control of the match before losing his composure in the third set, hitting several double faults despite serving well throughout the match with 13 aces and 75% of first-serve points won.

"He made me run [in the] third set and that's why I missed a little bit too much. I was pretty dead to be honest. In the fourth set I managed to raise my energy," said 27-year-old Medvedev.

Borges, 26, deserved to take the match into a fourth set by producing a high level to keep rallies alive and hitting exquisite drop shots, but could not maintain his form to force a decider.

"Nuno was incredible on drop shots today. I was not happy he was going for drop shots because they were really unbelievable," Medvedev said.

"The third set was tough physically because he was playing very aggressively basically. As soon as I would hit one shot in the rally that was not aggressive or deep enough, he would just go full power. It was pretty impressive."

Russian Medvedev has reached five Grand Slam finals but has won only one - the 2021 US Open. He has faced either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal in every final though, players with 46 major titles between them.

The two-time Australian Open runner-up said he is "ready" to go one step further and finally clinch the title.

"I know what I'm worth. I know how good I can play. I proved it at the US Open, especially for myself, playing some tough opponents, in my opinion, like game style-wise. I managed to beat them," Medvedev said.

"I'm ready. Hopefully I can show it on the tennis court. We can talk forever about who is ready, who is the favourite. You need to win."

Medvedev will face ninth seed Hurkacz in the last eight after the 26-year-old ended Frenchman Cazaux's brilliant run.

World number 122 Cazaux had beaten eighth seed Holger Rune in the second round but could not cause another upset as Hurkacz won 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 on John Cain Arena.

"I served well and he was serving well as well so I needed to stay aggressive and I'm really happy with today's performance," said former Wimbledon semi-finalist Hurkacz.

"I haven't been into too many Grand Slam quarter-finals and I am super excited."

It will be Hurkacz's first quarter-final in Melbourne and he has a 3-2 record over his opponent Medvedev, although the Russian is 2-1 on hard courts against the Pole.

 

BBC