Tennis: Dubai, Diokovic defeated. Medvedev-Rublev final

14 years after the last time it will be a Russian derby, the one between Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, respectively seeds number 2 and 3, to decide tomorrow the winner of the ATP 500 in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

Novak Djokovic’s unbeaten run in 2023 also ends, who like last year (when he lost in the quarterfinals against Vesely) fails to conquer the tournament which takes place in a place that is a second home for him, Dubai. It cannot be said that it is a surprise, if not in part, given that when he loses the Serbian world number one it is always news.

THE RETURN

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However, after the Australian Open, Medvedev seems to be back to what he once was, very strong on hard courts and really on the ball: the Russian took the game home with a double 6-4 at the end of a certainly high-level match. For Medvedev it is the thirteenth consecutive victory after the defeat in Melbourne against Korda, with successes in the tournaments of Doha and Rotterdam, where he beat Sinner in the final and in Dubai he will play the thirtieth final of his career. For Nole, a defeat that doesn’t hurt too much, and now for him there is the wait as to whether he will be able to obtain the exemption to play Indian Wells and Miami or not.

THE OTHER SEMIFINAL

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In the other semifinal Rublev eliminated the German Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-6(9). A double-faced match for the Russian, who dominated in the first set, while in the second set he had to hold back an excellent Zverev, also canceling a set point and then taking home a very long tie break, in which Rublev only managed to close at the sixth match point, thus beating the German for the first time in his career. For Rublev tomorrow will be the eighteenth final, the first in 2023.