London (AFP)
Alexander Zverez took the last ticket to the semifinals of the London Masters, which he is the defending champion, beating Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 7-5 (4) on Friday, eliminating at the same time the N.1 World Rafael Nadal.
Saturday, in the semifinal, Zverev (N.7) will challenge Dominic Thiem (N.5) who finished at the top of the other group in the evening, while Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (N.6) will face Roger Federer ( N.3) in the early afternoon.
Since Nadal's victory in three sets against Tsitsipas in the afternoon, Zverev knew he had no right to make mistakes if he wanted to defend his title.
He also started out beating, making the break from the first commitment of the match to not let go and win the first round 6-4 in 33 minutes.
Far from giving up, Medvedev, who had nothing to hope for, struggled, trying to drag his opponent into long exchanges that were more favorable.
But he has never really found a solution to take the lead over an applied and determined Zverev.
The second set went to the tie-break but more solid on his first beautiful, Zverev was spared the fear of a third chance set by concluding with ace on his first match point (7-4).
© 2019 AFP