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There’s two words tennis aficionados would respond with when asked what to expect from Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev’s semi-final on Friday: Buckle up.
Already a noteworthy matchup in its own right, the pair’s 19th meeting is as fascinating for the off-court build up as it is for what has been produced on it.
The pair would be sick of each other already having faced off six times in 2023, but a Netflix documentary has added even more fuel to what threatens to be a raging inferno on Rod Laver Arena.
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Medvedev through to Aus Open Semi Final | 00:56
That documentary dedicated one episode of its recently-released second season to Zverev’s comeback from an ankle injury and painted Medvedev as a villain.
Such a characterisation centred on the pair’s fiery clash in Monte Carlo in 2023, which saw Zverev lose in a third set tiebreak after winning the opening set.
During that match, Medvedev left the court after winning the seventh game of the third set to take a bathroom break and on another occasion removed one of the net poles.
His opponent took umbrage with the Russian, labelling him “one of the most unfair players in the world” and the match ended with a no-look handshake from the German.
Medvedev said in that post-match press conference Zverev was “living in his own world”, while on the Break Point documentary one of Zverev’s coaching team said: “I’ve lost all respect for the guy.”
The depiction of Medvedev in that episode drew some criticisms from not only viewers but active players, including fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina.
Some were also critical of the time devoted to Medvedev in an episode about a player who in October 2020 was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-girlfriend, Olga Sharypova, and will face trial in May on a domestic abuse charge.
That trial is in relation to allegations from Brenda Patea, the mother of Zverev’s daughter, who alleges Zverev pushed her against a wall and choked her during an argument in 2020.
Zverev has denied all allegations of domestic abuse put to him and an ATP investigation into claims made by Sharypova was inconclusive.
Making the off-court dynamic between Zverev and Daria all the more intriguing is the fact Medvedev’s wife Dasha is a close friend of Sharypova, with the pair winning an ITF junior tournament together in 2012.
After Sharypova’s allegations became public, Zverev began mentioning Medvedev’s wife by name in trophy speeches, something that puzzled Medvedev.
While Zverev never said the pair have been close friends, Medvedev was asked to weigh in on the mention.
“We were never really close friends, maybe only in juniors,” Medvedev later said.
“That’s only him in his congratulation speeches saying something like he was friends with me and my wife, which is definitely not the case since long time.”
On the court, Zverev acknowledged in his post-match interview with Jim Courier in the early hours of Thursday morning that Medvedev has had his measure in recent times.
Of the pair’s six meetings last season, Medvedev won five, while he holds an 11-7 record overall.
Incredibly, this is just the first time the pair will have met at a major, raising the stakes significantly compared to past clashes.
Zverev will be battle weary after a significant physical effort to get to this point, but he will also be buoyed having defeated a top five player in a major for the first time in his career.
Medvedev is a hardcourt specialist and could book a spot in his third final in his last four attempts at Melbourne Park, as his journey for a second grand slam continues.
Already an encounter of note with a spot in the final on the line, what’s taken place off the court between the two has made their 19th encounter one worth watching keenly.
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