After treating fans on Rod Laver Arena to an entertaining show during his fourth-round victory over Nuno Borges, Daniil Medvedev served up a return-of-serve “masterclass” in the post-match chat with Jim Courier.
The No. 3 seed took out the Portuguese player 6-3, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-1, ending his opponent’s historic quarterfinal bid. Instead, it’s Medvedev who advanced on Monday to face the big-serving No. 9 seed Hubert Hurkacz in the next round.
Perhaps Courier, a former four-time Grand Slam winner himself, read the scouting report on Hurkacz, because he was quick to ask Medvedev about the philosophy behind his trademark deep return position during their on-court interview.
“To be honest, kind of anyone could do it, but you need to practice,” Medvedev explained to Courier. “But what’s good from here, it’s very tough to hit it out. You can hit it pretty strong and many times you’re going to be surprised the way it goes in—you should try it!”
Things took a hilarious turn when Courier challenged Medvedev to get back on court and demonstrate the shot in question: