Medvedev, Tsitsipas set up Cincinnati semifinal showdown

Get your popcorn ready for another Daniil Medvedev vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas showdown.

That will be the matchup in Saturday afternoon’s semifinal at the Western & Southern Open after Medvedev and Tsitsipas won their respective quarterfinal contests on Friday. The Russian took care of Taylor Fritz 7-6(1), 6-3 before the Greek held off John Isner 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3.

Medvedev’s victory was not as straightforward as the score suggests. The world No. 1 had to save at least one break point in four different games against Fritz, and three of those break points were set points. However, the 13th-ranked American could not convert–and that proved to be costly since he lost the ensuing tiebreaker while winning only one point.

“I knew that it was gonna be a tight match,” Medvedev commented. “For sure in the first set he was on top of me a little bit. He got many more chances than I did. There were some set points (for him), but I managed to stay in the set and that helped me win the match.”

Tsitsipas also took an opening tiebreaker but then dropped the second set against Isner. The world No. 7’s only break point of the match came is Isner’s final service game at 3-4 in the decider, and it was converted when the American sent a forehand wide.

Tsitsipas is now 5-2 lifetime against Isner and has won five in a row in the head-to-head series.

“I knew that coming into the match it’s never easy to play against him,” Cincinnati’s No. 4 seed said. “The most important thing is to try and stay patient. There will be a lot of situations that you can’t control…. It all came down to very few points at the end. I was just able to hang in there and make one more ball and not give him much to work with.”

Th matchup with Medvedev is not as favorable for Tsitsipas, who trails that head-to-head series 7-2.

“He’s one of the best,” the 24-year-old noted. “For me, I’m gonna have to play my game. I’ve been playing good so far. An obstacle like Daniil is never easy, but I’m gonna try to be concentrated. I will try to approach my game in the most precise way and the best manner, and let my tennis do the talking.”

Tsitsipas hasn’t always done that in the past and it may be especially difficult to do in this particular matchup–where there is absolutely no love lost.