Daniil Medvedev will regain his throne.

The world number 2 qualified for the final of the 's-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands) grass-court tournament on Saturday, dominating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-5 in 1h56, making sure to recover first place in the ATP rankings on Monday.

He will meet this Sunday in the final the unexpected Dutchman Tim Van Rijthoven (25 years old, 205th in the world), who on Saturday eliminated the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (9th) 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) .

"We were probably 18 the last time we saw each other and he was still playing well on grass, so I'm not surprised," the Russian player said of his Dutch opponent.

Turf, Medvedev added, “is a surface where you sometimes experience sensations.

(Van Rijthoven) is a good player, so I'm ready for a big fight”.

A first final since the Australian Open

Daniil Medvedev, 26, has thirteen titles on the ATP circuit, including the 2021 edition of the US Open, but he has not won any tournaments this season.

His qualification for the final, his first since the Australian Open where he lost in the fifth set against Rafael Nadal, guarantees him to dethrone Serbian Novak Djokovic on Monday in first place in the world rankings, a place he already occupied two weeks last March.

Mannarino, 70th in the world, was the defending champion on Dutch grass, where he won the only title of his career in 2019. The 2020 and 2021 editions, on the other hand, were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

No Russians at Wimbledon

In the women's draw, the final of the tournament will see Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (6th) and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (30th) face off this Sunday.

Sabalenka, 24, beat American Shelby Rogers 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 on Saturday, while Alexandrova, 27, beat compatriot Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-1.

The 's-Hertogenbosch tournament is part of the preparation for Wimbledon (June 27-July 10), where neither Sabalenka, nor Alexandrova, nor Medvedev will be able to line up.

The organizers of the London tournament have indeed decided to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from its 2022 edition in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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