The Russian beat the American 7-6 (1) and 6-3 in Cincinnati to reach his first 1,000th semifinal of the year
Medvedev already has thirteen consecutive victories against American rivals and will reach the Grand Slam at the top
the russian Daniil Medvedev, number 1 in the world, triumphed this Friday 7-6 (1) and 6-3 against the American Taylor Fritz in Cincinnati, and qualified for his first semifinals of the season at a Masters 1,000.
In the first absolute confrontation with Fritz, Medvedev had to cancel three set points in the first set before taking it 7-1 in the tiebreaker and took advantage of the only break in the second set to shield his place in the semifinals.
The Russian, champion two weeks ago in Los Cabos and winner of Cincinnati in 2019, confirmed intractable against American rivals and extended his winning streak against them to thirteen.
He hit 18 service winners to topple Fritz, this year’s champion at Indian Wells, in one hour and 37 minutes.
The American is still unable to beat a world number 1, and this Friday was his sixth defeat in six attempts.
Medvedev will play the semifinals this Saturday against the winner of the match between Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, fourth seed, and American John Isner, the oldest quarterfinalist in the history of this tournament (37 years old).
On the other side of the table, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, number 4 in the world and third seeded, will face the British Cameron Norrie, while the Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime will face the Croatian Borna Coric.
Alcaraz will close the night program on center court against Norrie (8:30 p.m. local time, 2:30 a.m. Spanish time), a rival he has beaten in the previous three matches.