Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev were locked in one of their typically grueling battles. And then all of a sudden it was over.
Medvedev retired from their semifinal match at the Astana Open on Saturday afternoon after losing the second set in a tense tiebreaker. Following a 6-4 opening frame of play in Medvedev’s favor, Djokovic took the second 7-6(6)–at which point the second seed called it quits. Medvedev cited a leg injury, which appeared to start giving him problems in the ‘breaker.
“I really hope that his injury is nothing too serious,” Djokovic commented. “I know Daniil; he’s a great guy, he’s a fighter, he’s a big competitor. He wouldn’t retire a match if he didn’t feel that he [could] continue or (if it wouldn’t) worsen his injury. He told me that he pulled an adductor muscle in his leg.
“It was such a close match, particularly in the second set. I would probably say he was a better player on the court in both sets. I was fighting and trying to find a way; I found a way to win the second. But I’m just sad for the tournament and for these people who were enjoying the battle, and for Daniil that it had to end this way.”
The 35-year-old will face Stefanos Tsitsipas for the title on Sunday. Tsitsipas overcame Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday’s first semifinal.
good one until the end
Most likely Medvedev was affected by it for most of the 2nd set because there was a noticeable drop in his level. That had 2-0 written all over it. Djokovic was lucky to stay in the contest and will get another title for his efforts.
What drop in Medvedev’s level?
What match were you watching?
Med’s winner to ues ratio was much better than Novak ‘s so it’s pretty clear he could have won. I hope he gets back to playing well.
Meanwhile I am glad that Novak is rising in the rankings which are an utter mess because of excluding wimby points. It’s much better if both Rafa and Novak are high up in the rankings. Med needs to get back to the top 4 as well.
Having Novak low down in the rankings potentially means Rafa and he meeting early in slams which no one wants.
Yes amy he got injured start of tb…we all know who would have won the match had he not injured himself. .but the tune has now changed to how djoko is unbeatable again n how he will clean up the whole tour in 23 n terming it as his revenge year n yes not to forget win Paris n Turin too..hell ppl like Gilbert have even said Novak will break Connors record of 109 which means novak has to add 20 titles more n PPL are sure he will as they can look that far ahead.
Yeah Novak is winning titles whereas rafa is busy getting injured over n over again , sad for his fans
I know Mole Farm are in overdrive sanju! They spend extraordinary amounts of time insulting Rafa. We don’t talk about Novak like they do about Rafa.
A week or so ago Novak said that Rafa was by far his biggest rival and that their rivalry was ” very special “. So they disregard the words of their own hero!
Let’s see shall we? Pride comes before a fall. Also the fact that Med was outplaying Novak shows he can be beaten. Med said he wanted to beat Rafa more than he wanted to beat Novak and that’s undoubtedly because Rafa is a worse match up for him than Novak as shown by the head to heads.
This alone shows that Novak is not unbeatable and superior to Rafa. We are talking about playing on Novak’s fave surface hard courts afterall not clay.
Is rafa playing this year Amy? I have not seen any announcement anywer yet.. any news if his abs have healed?
Secondly is it not strange that rafa has not put out an official tweet that he has a child now? I mean I know it’s his personal life but I think this much he should put out
Beating tsitsi is no big deal at all tsitsi form this year is crap ,jus fh is garbage this year sbd less said abt his single hand bh the better..Novak will maul him even in his sleep..meddy wld surely have beaten djoko in 2 had he not injured himself end of second set in beg of tb
I don’t think anyone knows if he is going to play sanju. There has been no clarification.
I agree that it is surprising there has been no announcement to do with his son and I agree there ought to be one.
Tsitsi isn’t hard to beat. Has been playing poorly and sub par all year. He has holes in his game even when playing well and is an easy punchbag for Novak. Med is a different matter. If he hadn’t got injured we would have been looking at back to back wins against Novak which surely secretly worries Mole Farm. Wh a t if they meet early at the AO?! He could beat Novak and they will have a well earned nervous breakdown.😀