It will be Daniil Medvedev vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals of the Erste Bank Open after they won their respective matches on Friday. Medvedev battled past fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Tsitsipas ended the run of wild card Borna Gojo 7-6(4), 7-5.
Khachanov fired nine aces without double-faulting a single time, but one break in the bookend sets ultimately allowed Medvedev to advance. The world No. 3 seized it right away in the third, surging to a 3-0 advantage. Medvedev was pushed to deuce at 4-2 after leading that game 40-0, but he was otherwise untroubled on serve the rest of the way.
“It was a very close match, so of course mentally you have to be strong,” Vienna’s top seed explained. “And it was a long one. But at the end, (there was) one break each set. So I’m happy that I managed to make two, and he only made one.”
Medvedev and Tsitsipas have gone head-to-head 12 times, with the Russian leading the series 8-4. He won their first meeting of the 2023 season 7-5, 7-5 in the semis of the Rome Masters.
The semifinal in the bottom half of the draw pits Jannik Sinner against Andrey Rublev. Sinner took care of Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-3 in Friday’s nightcap, while Rublev held off Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3. Rublev saved all six of the break points he faced to prevail after two hours and 30 minutes.
nice one, Rublev