Daniil Medvedev came up against a confident opponent who hit the ball clean on Saturday at the Erste Bank Open for the second day in a row. The top seed had all the answers.
Medvedev was imperious as he defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 in the duos semifinal at the ATP 500 event. Just as he did against Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals on Friday, the relentless recovery and the 26-year-old’s precise serve made the difference as he rode an 85-minute win to reach the league game in Vienna for the first time.
“It was a great game,” Medvedev said. “There were a few moments in the game where I thought I should have done a bit better, to get in front earlier and try to put the pressure on earlier. Then I managed to stay consistent and, in the most important points, I managed to raise my level, it was enough today and I’m really happy with my level.
Dimitrov had hit his stride en route to the semis in Vienna, where he was particularly impressive as he knocked out third seed Andrey Rublev in the second round. Yet despite hitting 21 winners to Medvedev’s 17, he couldn’t penetrate the top seed’s defense often enough to get a solid foothold in the game.
Much like his previous wins over Nikoloz Basilashvili, Dominic Thiem and Sinner this week, Medvedev was called up for duty against Dimitrov. He won 87% (27/31) of the points behind his first delivery to improve his ATP Head2Head series record against the Bulgarian to 4-2.
“The serve is probably the most important stroke in tennis,” Medvedev said. “I lacked a bit this season, I made too many double faults. Sometimes, in important moments, my serve could have been a little better. I worked a lot with my coach to try to find this rhythm [again], and so far I’m serving well here. I’m really happy with it and that’s also why I play so well.
Medvedev, who is yet to drop serve this week in four matches in Vienna, will face Denis Shapovalov in Sunday’s final as he chases his second tour-level title of the season. The Canadian also won a semi-final in straight sets, beating Borna Coric 7-6(4), 6-0.
Shapovalov edged Coric in a hard-fought first set that featured no break points as he leveled up in the tie-break, and Coric had no response to the Canadian’s big hit in the second set. Shapovalov stormed into his second league game of the season after securing 26 winners and converting three of his four break point opportunities.
“I’m just happy to have made it and to be in another final this season, beating some of the best guys and some great players along the way,” Shapovalov said after the game. “I’m very happy with my performance this week and today was another amazing game. Obviously Borna is playing good tennis, he beat some great players this week so really happy to win today and really happy with my game.”
After winning his first two ATP Head2Head encounters with Medvedev, Shapovalov has suffered straight-set defeats in the last three tour-level clashes between the pair. The Canadian is aware of the challenge he faces against the in-form top seed in Sunday’s league game, but is confident nonetheless as he chases for his second ATP Tour title.
“It’s super difficult,” said the Canadian. “I struggled against him in the last two games we played. He’s an extremely tough opponent to play against. He bothers a lot of guys so it’s going to be a tough game, [but] I have confidence in myself, I think I play very good tennis. I will take it to him and fight with my heart.
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