Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have faced each other 16 times in their careers and already four times this season. Their rivalry will add another chapter after they earned respective three-set wins at the China Open on Monday.
Medvedev ended Ugo Humbert’s run with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory. After dropping the second set, the Russian faced a break point in the first game of the third but managed to hold. He eventually gave back a break for 2-1, but another break of Humbert’s serve for 3-1 sent Medvedev off to the races.
“I’m kind of happy that I managed to raise my level in important moments, except (for) a game in the second set,” Medvedev assessed. “It’s great that I managed to still find in this tough match these moments of consistency, which is enough to win. That’s what you have to do.
“I am happy to be in the semifinals. When you come to the tournament, you always want to go as far as possible. (I’m) happy to still be here tomorrow. The further we go, the tougher the matches, the tougher the opponents. That’s normal.”
The world No. 3 will likely have another tough one on Tuesday. He is 9-7 lifetime against Zverev and has won three of four meetings in 2023 but lost their most recent matchup at the Cincinnati Masters. Three of their four encounters this year have required final sets.
Zverev also advanced in three sets on Monday, beating Nicolas Jarry 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.
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