Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev has booked his ticket to the semifinals of the Australian Open, downing fellow Russian and close friend Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in his most impressive performance of the tournament.
Medvedev was the first to draw blood in the match, breaking the seventh seed in the sixth game of the first set to gain a 4-2 advantage. Medvedev was unable to consolidate the break, with Rublev breaking straight back to get the set back on serve. However, Rublev's recovery was short lived, with Medvedev breaking again, this time to claim the set 7-5.
From that point onwards, the fourth seed never looked back, dropping just five games across the second and third sets to claim a straight sets victory.
You could say it was a masterclass off Medvedev's racquet after the first set. He only faced three break points and saved all three, hitting 20 winners and just 17 unforced errors to run away with what ended up being a convincing victory on the scoreboard.
A lift in intensity from Medvedev was evident following the first set, leaving his opponent gasping for air at various moments in the third set. Physically, Medvedev was just too strong and his fellow Russian was unable to match his intensity, physicality and movement around the court.
Medvedev is now firming himself as the player to beat this tournament, claiming his 19th consecutive win, with his last loss coming in October last year. His tally of wins against fellow top ten ranked players has now also increased to eleven straight wins.
The fourth seed will face the winner of tonights second quarterfinal between second seed Rafael Nadal and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, on Friday in the semifinals.
Who the Russian would prefer to face is an interesting talking point.
Medvedev's record against Tsitsipas reads five wins and just a single loss. However, that loss came in their most recent meeting.
His record against Nadal reads one win and three losses, the contrast in this head to head though is that Medvedev's only win came in their most recent meeting at the World Tour Finals late last year.