Jiri Lehecka through to Madrid semifinals after Daniil Medvedev retires with injury

On Wednesday, both men’s quarterfinals at the Mutua Madrid Open went to deciding sets.

A day later, just one set was played across the remaining two. And with the turn of events, one of the more unexpected semifinal lineups on the Masters 1000 stage in recent memory has come together.

After Jannik Sinner withdrew prior to facing Felix Auger-Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev was unable to finish his contest with Jiri Lehecka as a result of an in-match injury. The Czech officially advanced, 6-4, ret.

The No. 3 seed left at 3-2 for an off-court medical timeout, having looking concerned during the fourth game. Medvedev carried on with what appeared to be a right adductor injury, though his movement was clearly compromised when he was forced out wide, particularly on the forehand wing. The trainer returned two games later to work on the impacted area again, with the players still on serve.

Speaking with press, Medvedev shared, "I don't know if I felt it on the return or on the dropshot, but when I ran, I wanted to run faster and faster during the movement, and suddenly felt my hip, like, kind of blocked. And I couldn't sprint like when you strain a muscle probably or have a spasm, which is very tough to know which of the two.

"So then working with the physio, and then asked him if I could make it worse. He said if it's a tear, then yes. If it's a spasm, no. I tried to go to play, and my mind was not letting me go full, so at the end of the set, I was, like, if I want to continue, I just try to sprint to the net. If I don't feel anything, I try to go a little bit more full and see how it goes. When I sprinted, I felt pain. So I was, like, no need to continue."

Lehecka broke for 5-4 when Medvedev’s forehand clipped the tape and flew out. After the No. 30 seed served out the set, the 2021 US Open champion decided to stop. An understandable decision, as Medvedev is the defending champion at next week’s Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.

The 22-year-old was coming off a powerful victory over Rafael Nadal in the round of 16. Lechecka is the lone player of the four title hopefuls who will make his debut in a 1000-level semifinal against Auger-Aliassime.

In Friday’s first showdown, Andrey Rublev meets Taylor Fritz. While both are former Masters champions, Rublev entered this tournament on a four-match losing streak. Fritz arrived on the back of reaching the Munich final, though was 3-3 lifetime at the Caja Magica before making this deep run.