Eclipsing Medvedev: Alexandrova put Swiatek and Pegula out of the way and reached the semi-finals of the Masters in Miami

This year's Masters in Miami brings many surprises. And one of the main ones is the performance of Ekaterina Alexandrova. The Russian woman reached the semi-finals of the competition and thus repeated her best result in her career at WTA-1000 tournaments.

In recent years, the athlete has won four singles titles, but at the “thousanders” she was only selected for the top quartet once: in Madrid in 2022. Moreover, the tennis player has an excellent chance to update her statistics, since in the next match she will have to fight with the American Danielle Collins, who is currently not even in the top 50. 

However, the big surprise is not only Alexandrova’s result, but also how she achieved it. On the way to the semi-finals, the girl in turn knocked out her compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who had gained good shape in recent months, from the fight for the title, as well as two rivals who were among the top five strongest tennis players in the world.

Two days earlier, she sensationally defeated Iga Swiatek, although the last three head-to-head meetings between the rivals were left to the representative of Poland and Ekaterina did not succeed in them. Moreover, this time the victory turned out to be unexpectedly simple - 6:4, 6:2. Alexandrova did not give the number one WTA ranking a single game on her serve, and she herself broke three times.

But on Thursday, in a duel with Jessica Pegula, the Russian woman had a harder time. At first, the opponents looked convincing, but after the score became 3:3, Ekaterina began to make mistakes: she lost two of her games in a row and was unable to catch Jessica’s serve.

However, after the break, Alexandrova managed to compose herself and immediately stunned Pegula, leading 40:0 at the reception. Getting a break after that was a matter of technique, and the Russian managed to do it on the third try. And in the seventh game she repeated this trick and strengthened her advantage. It turned out to be very useful, as Ekaterina then gave a zero serve and only on the second attempt was able to restore parity in the games - 6:4.

The decisive set was no less nervous and tense, but at the same time extremely beautiful. The girls played the ball on the back line for a long time, waiting for each other's mistakes. A particularly stubborn struggle unfolded in the middle of the game. The Russian made a break, but the American immediately restored equality in the score. True, for this she had to make every effort: her opponent lost the game only on the fourth attempt. However, failure did not break Catherine, but, on the contrary, spurred her on. She caught the courage and didn’t let it go any further - 6:4.

“It was very difficult for me because Pegula played amazingly. In the third set, there were sometimes moments when I couldn’t understand how I could get the ball back. But he always came back. I just tried to win every point, as if I knew that she would be everywhere and I needed to do something. And I tried to wait and take advantage of all the opportunities that came my way,” the official WTA website quotes Alexandra as saying.

Thanks to this success, next Monday Ekaterina will soar to at least 15th place in the world rankings, which will be her personal record. Moreover, a victory in the semifinals will allow the Italian Yasmine Paolini and the Brazilian Beatrice Haddad-Maia to leave behind.

In the men's Masters bracket, only one Russian continues to fight - Daniil Medvedev. In Miami, unlike his compatriot, he has a slightly more ambitious goal - to defend the title he won last year, which the athlete has never succeeded in his career, even at tournaments of a lower rank. And he is approaching it quite confidently so far, without losing a single set to his opponents.

The last match with Nicholas Harry turned out to be perhaps the most intense for the fourth racket of the world. The 28-year-old Chilean had defeated the Norwegian Casper Ruud the day before and had no plans to capitulate in the confrontation with Daniil. In the first game he made a lot of mistakes and quite logically lost - 2:6. Moreover, Medvedev, as it seemed, did not put in extra effort to win. But then Harry added significantly, which his opponent also noted.

“In the first set I thought I was playing at a good level, not doing anything extra, just enough to win. Then he began to play much better, serve more accurately, and these were difficult rallies and points,” the official ATP website quotes Daniil as saying.

It should be noted that Nikolos generally changed his tactics against the Russian after the break. I started going to the net much more often, and it paid off. Until the score was 5:5, the opponents were unable to earn a single break point, and in the 11th game it was Harry who had the opportunity to take the lead, but Medvedev saved himself.

In the end, everything was decided in a shortened game, which turned out to be no less stubborn. The Russian was losing 3:5, but managed to pull himself together and correct the situation. At the same time, Nikolos resisted to the end: Daniil won only on the third match point - 9:7.

Next, Medvedev will have a very serious match with Jannik Sinner. Moreover, it is important primarily from a psychological point of view. The last time Daniil beat an uncomfortable opponent was in Miami almost a year ago. True, then they met in the final. 

After that fight, the Italian improved significantly, and then four fights in a row remained with him. It was Sinner who denied Medvedev the second Grand Slam title of his career by defeating him in Melbourne. He also surpassed him in the ATP rankings, sending the Russian from third to fourth. 

“He's playing better and better and he's confident. Some matches you watch on TV and it looks like he’s in trouble. But he manages to find solutions, and that's what champions do. This is a big challenge for me, and I will try to give my 100 percent,” said Daniil.

The challenge is indeed great. After all, it is important for Medvedev not only to regain his position, but also to stop the conversations that have begun recently that he will have to remain in the shadow of the younger and more talented ones - Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. By the way, the Russian will most likely have to play against the Spaniard in the final. If, of course, you manage to defeat the Italian.