Paris (AFP)
Daniil Medvedev, 4th in the world, dominated Fabio Fognini (12th) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on Friday and qualified for the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters 1000.
"Yesterday (in 8th against Pospisil), I found that I could improve a lot of things, but today it was a good level," said the 23-year-old Russian.
Serene and confident, he has reached his sixth straight semifinal in six tournaments since Wimbledon, and his fourth career Masters 1000 after Monte Carlo, Montreal and Cincinnati this year.
He will face on Saturday the defending champion and four-time winner of the tournament, Novak Djokovic (1st), or Stefanos Tsitsipas (7th).
"It's always difficult to face the Big3 (the Top 3 of the ATP consisting of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, ed) ... but I love!" Medvedev said in anticipation of the theoretical half against the N.1 World Serbian.
Medvedev has reached the finals of the last five tournaments he has played, including the US Open, and has won two in Cincinnati (his first Masters 1000 title) and St. Petersburg.
He beat Djokovic in their last two meetings: in the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo and in the semis in Cincinnati. The Serb leads three wins to two in their head-to-head, the last going back to the 8th finals at the Australian Open in January.
© 2019 AFP