Medvedev's first semi-final

Daniil Medvedev became the first Russian tennis player in 11 years to make his way to the semifinals of the ATP Final Tournament.

This happened after the victory over the first racket of the world Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev won the group stage match with a score of 6: 3, 6: 3 and took first place in his quartet.

Although Djokovic does not need a special introduction and is considered one of the favorites at every tournament, he should have feared a meeting with Medvedev.

The Russian can be considered a difficult opponent for the first racket of the world.

Before the reporting match, he managed to win two fights out of six, and this is already a lot compared to other tennis players, many of whom have a much lower percentage of victories in the confrontation with Novak.

On indoor courts, Djokovic and Medvedev had met only once before.

In 2017, as part of the Davis Cup, they played their first match against each other.

The young and still little-known Medvedev managed to win the starting set, after which he lost the next two.

He was unable to finish the game due to seizures, but he had a chance to create a sensation.

The final ATP tournament in 2020 began for the first and fourth rackets of the world with victories, so a second success would guarantee one of them reaching the semifinals.

True, Djokovic needed to win in two sets, otherwise he would still have the mathematical chances of relegation.

Medvedev had the right to concede in one of the parties.

At the beginning of the first set, tennis players took turns taking their serve.

Even then, one detail made it possible to conclude that Medvedev was better prepared for the match.

In the first six games, he earned two break points, while Djokovic did not receive a single one.

This season, the Serb is the leader in winning games at reception in matches on hard (30.3%), but in a meeting with the Russian he could not confirm this status.

In the seventh game, Djokovic began to make mistakes unusual for himself, which only played into the hands of his opponent.

The leader of the world rankings tried for a long time to end the rally in his favor, but Medvedev realized a break point and then won his serve.

At this moment, Djokovic completely wilted and made three double mistakes in a row.

They brought Medvedev a victory in the set - 6: 3.

The mood for the second set was set by three aces of the Russian in a row.

At the reception, Medvedev found the answer to almost every blow of Djokovic, thanks to which he made a break at the first opportunity, and then won the seventh game in a row.

At that moment, the Serb was able to establish the serve, but this was not enough.

Medvedev himself served absolutely calmly and confidently, not giving the first racket of the world an opportunity to think about a comeback.

The Russian won the second set with the same score as the first, and won the third victory over Djokovic in his career.

Brutal.

Brilliant.

Breathtaking.



Sum up @ DaniilMedwed's performance in one word!

⬇️



📹: @TennisTV |

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- ATP Tour (@atptour) November 18, 2020

On Saturday, Medvedev will play for the first time in the semi-finals of the ATP Final Tournament.

He has already guaranteed himself the first place in the group, so either Spaniard Rafael Nadal or Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will become his rivals.

But before that, the Russian will meet with Diego Schwartzman.

Zverev's strong-willed victory

In another match of the day, Alexander Zverev beat Diego Schwartzman with a score of 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 3.

The German tennis player has increased his chances of making his way to the semi-finals of the ATP Final Tournament for the third time in a row, while the Argentine will definitely not play this weekend in London.

Prior to that, Zverev and Shvartsman met four times, and each of them won two matches.

The last time the success was accompanied by the representative of Germany, when he gave the opponent only three games in the final of the October tournament in Cologne.

Zverev started the match in London just as confidently and easily, quickly winning the first set and leading with a score of 3: 1 in the second.

Two days after the game with Medvedev, he was able to significantly improve his serve, and he had fewer double errors than aces.

But Zverev still failed to finish the match early.

In the second game, he again missed the thread of the game for a while, and Schwartzman evened the score in sets.

Zverev managed to draw conclusions and in the final game did not give up any slack.

He brought the percentage of the first serve to 89%, and against such a game the Argentine tennis player could not do anything.

The 2018 Final Tournament Champion made two breaks and ended the match in his favor.

In a meeting with Djokovic, Zverev will play for a ticket to the semifinals.

The winner of this match, which will take place on Friday, will continue to fight for the title in a game with Dominic Tim.

The wheels on this guy 😲🏃 @ dieschwartzman |

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- ATP Tour (@atptour) November 18, 2020