Four realized break points and 20 unforced errors of the opponent

The tournament in Rotterdam was extremely important for Daniil Medvedev from a psychological point of view, as it was his first after an unsuccessful performance at the Australian Open.

The Russian had the opportunity to win his debut trophy of the season and prove that he is capable of returning to the top 5 of the ATP rankings.

He could also give himself a great gift for his 27th birthday, which he celebrated on February 11 already in the Netherlands.

On the way to the quarter-finals, the tennis player faced desperate resistance from Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina, to whom he lost the first set - 4:6, 6:2, 6:2, but then left Botik van de Zandshulp no chance - 6:2, 6:2.

However, a much more serious opponent was waiting for him - the eighth racket of the planet Felix Auger-Aliassime.

But if you believe the statistics of face-to-face meetings, the Muscovite could be called the favorite, because he won all the previous four.

The last one turned out to be especially memorable - in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open-2022, when the domestic athlete lost 0:2 in sets, but made a comeback and stopped a step away from winning the trophy.

But in the semi-finals of the US Open-2021, on the contrary, he did not give up a set to his opponent and eventually won the first Grand Slam tournament in his career.

The starting set has developed for Medvedev better than you can imagine.

The thought immediately crept into my head that he would continue a successful series for himself in the confrontation with the Canadian.

Daniil acted superbly on his pitch, and also practically did not allow unforced blots, unlike his opponent, who regularly made mistakes at important moments.

In addition, Auger-Aliassime did not go well with the first serve.

The percentage of hits from it was only 50%.

In addition, the Russian successfully returned the attacking game on the back line and from time to time emerged victorious from multi-hit shootouts, pulling out incredibly heavy balls.

All this did not take long to affect the result.

Already in the fifth game, the 11th racket of the planet made the first break.

After that, the opponent literally fell down and began to give away points in long draws.

For example, with a score of 2:4, he made a double at the most crucial moment, and then allowed his opponent to record a second break as an asset, twice failing to cope with forehands.

As a result - the absolute advantage of Medvedev and 6:2.

In the second installment, Daniil calmly brought the matter to victory, although the Canadian tried to resist.

With the score 1:1, the Russian once again took the opponent's serve.

However, he, angry, immediately made a return break, and then pulled ahead.

It seemed to be a chance for the North American to return to the game.

But the unforced blots of Auger-Aliassime have not gone away.

As a result, he made them five times more than his counterpart - 20: 4, than he used with pleasure.

Before Felix had time to feel self-confident, as in the seventh game he made two mistakes at once in length from the forehand and once again gave his serve - 3:4.

After that, it was almost impossible to save the eighth racket of the planet.

The Muscovite was not going to waste time and waste energy.

The only thing, already serving for the match, he twice allowed the opponent to get ahead, but at the decisive moment he still put the squeeze on him.

Thus, Medvedev won the fifth victory over the Canadian and once again confirmed that he is a convenient tennis player for him.

Along the way, he interrupted a series of nine defeats in a row in meetings with players from the top 10, which began in the decisive confrontation of the Australian Open-2022 with Rafael Nadal.

Another quarter-final match turned out to be much more stubborn.

Grigor Dimitrov and Alex de Minor determined the strongest for 2.5 hours.

First, they won the set with the same score 6:3.

The decisive game ended only in a tie-break, and the Bulgarian nevertheless took over.

It is he who will try to stop the Russian on February 18 and not let him into the final.

Unsuccessful game Kudermetova and transcendental level of Sviontek

Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals of the tournament in Doha was waiting for an even more formidable opponent - the almost invincible Iga Sviontek.

Of course, the strongest tennis player on the planet was considered a clear favorite, especially since she had beaten the Russian woman twice without any extra effort, giving her only seven games and not a single set.

But a native of Kazan had a chance for a sensation, because she scored a wonderful move in Qatar.

In the first round, she knocked out the experienced Barbora Kreychikova from the fight in three games, and in the quarterfinals she was stronger than the sixth racket of the world, Corey Gauff.

Before that, she managed to easily pass another American champion of the Australian Open-2020 Sophia Kenin.

And the Pole at the start of the season did not look sinless at all.

She suffered several defeats, including from Elena Rybakina in Australia.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to repeat the success of the representative of Kazakhstan, Kudermetova.

Swiatek acted almost perfectly that evening and did not leave Veronica a chance.

She not only failed to impose a fight, but won only one game - 0:6, 1:6.

It makes no sense to describe in detail what happened on the court, since Iga was simply at a different level and showed significantly better tennis.

The Russian woman tried to sharply attack, but made too many mistakes, which the Pole invariably used.

She took the first set to zero.

In the second, Kudermetova even managed to win one game and even the score.

But there was no talk of any comeback.

Veronica wasn't even close to even making a break.

Sviontek was stronger in 89% of draws on the first serve and 90% on the second.

However, she did not allow a single double blot.

Now Iga will fight for the trophy with the fourth racket of the planet Jessica Pegula, who defeated Maria Sakkari in three games.

The domestic tennis player can only be praised for a more than worthy performance.

She knocked out several venerable rivals from the fight at once and lost only to the invincible favorite.