Aurélie SACCHELLI, published on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 1:55 p.m.
Danill Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open by beating compatriot Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. He will face Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final, who knocked out Rafael Nadal after trailing two sets to zero.
A first semi-final at the Australian Open and a world n ° 3 place (at least) next Monday! Daniil Medvedev did not waste his day by facing and beating his compatriot Andrey Rublev, the other Russian in the World Top 10, this Wednesday in the quarter-finals in Melbourne. The 25-year-old notched his 19th victory in a row (he had won the Rolex Paris Masters, all his London Masters games and all his ATP Cup games), with a final score of 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in 2:05. Medvedev had never lost a single set in his previous four encounters with Rublev, and he continued his incredible momentum, notably physically dominating his opponent, 20 months younger. Rublev was the first to give up his serve, at 3-2 in the first set, but he immediately broke to 4-4. This will be his only break of the match … Because Medvedev then accelerated to break white at 6-5 and thus pocket the first set, then saved break points at 4-3 in the second set before breaking in stride. (5-3) and win this second set, then won the third set by breaking at 0-1 and 2-0, while losing only seven points on his face-off. Even though Medvedev committed more unforced errors how many winning moves (33 against 30), it was out of proportion with Rublev (20 winning moves, 39 unforced errors). Impeccable throughout the match, Medvedev only experienced a small alert … after the match point, when he suffered from thigh cramps. Thanks to this success, he is guaranteed to climb to third place in the world next Monday, and could even be second in the event of a final victory. In the meantime, he will be opposed to Stefanos Tsitsipas (5-1 for the Russian), to try to play a second Grand Slam final, after the US Open 2019.
The exploitation of Tsitsipas
The Greek has indeed signed a masterful feat on the Rod Laver Arena, eliminating Rafael Nadal in five sets after being led two sets to zero! The world No. 6 won 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 after a 4:07 fight, to clinch his second victory in eight games against the Mallorcan. He thus becomes the third player, after Fabio Fognini at the 2015 US Open and Roger Federer in Miami in 2005 to beat Nadal in five games after trailing two sets to zero. This victory was however difficult to imagine at the end of the second set, when Nadal led 6-3, 6-2 after 1h21 of the match. The Spaniard had not had the slightest break point to defend during these first two sets and had committed only ten unforced errors against an apathetic and imprecise Tsitsipas (20 unforced errors, break conceded at 4-3 in the first set and 0-0 and 3-1 in the second). But the third set was a turning point and gave the Greek confidence back. Of the twelve games played, there were no less than eight shutouts, and only three points lost by Tsitsipas and one by Nadal. Logically, it was therefore in the tie-break that they had to decide, and the world No. 6 was the most solid, against his opponent who made unusual mistakes, and won 7- 4. More aggressive, the world No. 6 further raised his level of play in the fourth set. He worried Nadal about his serve at 1-1 and 2-2, and what had to happen happened: Tsitsipas made the decisive break at 4-4 and equalized with two innings everywhere moments later. It was therefore necessary to play a fifth set, and the Greek clearly had the physical advantage over the Spaniard. But the man with 20 Grand Slam tournaments did not give up, as usual, holding up to 5-5 (note the 4 aces in 54 seconds served by Tsitsipas to return to 3-3). The eleventh game was fatal to Nadal, who conceded a white break! On the next game, the Greek missed two match points, on a long rally that ended with a ball out, then a huge return from Nadal. Then the Spaniard got himself a break ball, but his opponent saved it, before concluding two points later. At 22, Stefanos Tsitsipas qualifies for his third Grand Slam semi-final, the second in Melbourne after 2019. As for Nadal, he sees his Grand Slam victory count stop at 20. Novak Djokovic will perhaps have be the opportunity to return to 18 Sunday …
AUSTRALIAN OPEN (Melbourne, Grand Slam, outside hard, $ 35.5 million)
Title holder: Novak Djokovic (SER)
Semi-finals
Djokovic (SER, n°1) – Karatsev (RUS, Q)
Medvedev (RUS, n ° 4) – Tsitsipas (GRE, n ° 5)
Quarter-finals
Djokovic (SER, n ° 1) bat A.Zverev (ALL, n°6) : 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (6)
Karatsev (RUS, Q) beat Dimitrov (BUL, No. 18): 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
Medvedev (RUS, n°4) bat Rublev (RUS, n°7) : 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
Tsitsipas (GRE, n ° 5) bat Nadal (ESP, n°2) : 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-5
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