Third seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia takes on sixth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in a blockbuster semifinal at the Australian Open. 

Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev have played against each other 18 times with the Russian holding a 11-7 head-to-head advantage. Zverev had won his first four meetings with Daniil Medvedev between 2016 and 2018. 

Their most recent match was in November - at the ATP Finals - where Medvedev defeated his German counterpart 7-6(7), 6-4 to advance to the semifinals.

It was their sixth meeting of the season (four of them were on hard-courts), with Medvedev winning five of them. Zverev's only victory against the Russian came at the Cincinnati Masters, while Medvedev won matches at numerous prestigious tournaments at Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Rome, Beijing and the aforementioned clash at the ATP Finals in Turin. 

With his hard-fought 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory over 9^th-seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, the 27-year-old Russian is just one victory away from reaching his third Australian Open final. 

The two-time finalist had a challenging journey to the last four, as he had to play formidable opponents such as French qualifier Terence Atmane, Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, Nuno Borges of Portugal and Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. All of his matches extended to at least four sets except for his third-round encounter against the 27^th-seed Auger-Aliassime.

Daniil Medvedev defeated an in-form Hubert Hurkacz in a quarterfinal that lasted almost four hours and is now aiming to win his second Major crown. He overcame a fourth-set dip to eventually outlast the Pole and his resilience secured him a spot in the season's opening Grand Slam semifinals for the third time in four years.

The German already reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park four years ago when Zverev lost in four sets to Dominic Thiem.  

His journey to the Australian Open semifinals mirrors his opponent's. Sascha Zverev also navigated through matches that extended to at least four sets, except for his third-round victory against American Alex Michelsen.

Other than his victory against Michelsen, Zverev secured victories over the likes of fellow countryman Dominik Koepfer, as well as Slovak qualifier Lukas Klein, Cameron Norrie of Great Britain and second-seed Carlos Alcaraz. 

The 26-year-old German played out one of his most remarkable performances to dismantle second seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. Alexander Zverev earned a 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Spain's top-ranked player in just over three hours at Rod Laver Arena.

Both players boast two of the finest backhands on the ATP Tour, while their forehands are considered their weaker sides. Yet, in a surprising twist, Sascha Zverev demonstrated an impressive display of his forehand against Carlos Alcaraz and his service game was also brilliant, with an 85% success rate on first serve.

Medvedev is recognized for his exceptional mental fortitude and defensive play style, allowing him to do well in lengthy matches. Meanwhile, the German normally takes an aggressive approach by using his power to push opponents back with deep shots from the baseline.

This promises to be a great test for the ability of both players. The Russian will step into the Australian Open semifinals as the favorite, given his better track record at the Australian Open, higher ranking, and a head-to-head advantage over Sascha Zverev.

Honestly, if the German can successfully replicate the same level of performance which he produced against Alcaraz, Zverev can surely get the better of Medvedev on Friday evening (local time).