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Daniil Medvedev once again came up short in five sets at Wimbledon as he was defeated by Hubert Hurkacz in their delayed fourth-round match. World number two Medvedev had reached the quarter-finals in three of his previous four majors – after making the last eight in only one of the prior 13 – but the grass-court grand slam continues to provide him with some difficulties.
The Russian's run to round four was his best ever at the All England Club, having bowed out a stage earlier in each of his three previous main-draw appearances.
But Medvedev's campaign ended in the same fashion as each of those, again losing in five sets. He had appeared to overcome that hoodoo in round three this year when he rallied from two sets down against Marin Cilic.
This reverse was stretched over two days, with Medvedev leading 6-2 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 3-4 when rain intervened on Court Two on Monday. Medvedev and Hurkacz headed to Centre Court to complete the job first thing on Tuesday, but the second seed could not complete the job.
The Polish challenger broke instantly and then served out the second set, teeing up a decider and bringing back bad memories for Medvedev. A shabby display from the two-time major finalist then put paid to his hopes of a recovery, the fifth set featuring 12 unforced errors to Hurkacz's one.
Indeed, Medvedev failed to apply any sort of pressure, winning only four receiving points and failing to forge a break point opportunity. Hurkacz created and took two, triumphing 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
As Hurkacz looks ahead to a first grand slam quarter-final against Federer, Medvedev will rue a missed opportunity. He could have finished this championship as the world's number one had he claimed silverware or faced anyone other than the top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the final.
"I played really bad today. There's not much more to say," acknowledged Medvedev.
