Medvedev beats Tsitsipas to enter Vienna final
Daniil Medvedev earned a personal-best 64th tour-level win of the season when he defeated long-term rival Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6(6) to reach the Vienna Open final for the second consecutive year.
World number four Daniil Medvedev defeated Alexei Popyrin in straight sets to set up a fourth-round clash with Stan Wawrinka in the men’s singles event at the Australian Open.
Medvedev registered a routine victory of 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday to enter the pre-quarters in Melbourne for the second consecutive time.
The Russian maintained a huge difference in the percentage of points won on the second serve with his 73 in comparison to Popyrin’s 42. Medvedev won a total of 94 points and converted five out of his eight break points.
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“I am happy to win it in straight sets. I have good memories from last year, which was my first time in the second week of a Grand Slam and hopefully I can make it even further this year. I just try to win as many matches as I can; hopefully I can win seven here,” Medvedev was quoted as saying on the official website of the ATP Tour.
Wawrinka, on the other hand, benefitted after his opponent John Isner retired with an injury on the left foot in the middle of their third-round match which the Swiss was leading 6-4, 4-1.
“You never want your opponent to pull out. I was playing well again today. I was really happy the way I was moving, the way I was playing. That’s very positive,” Wawrinka said.
Earlier on the day, World number seven Alexander Zverev eased past veteran Fernando Verdasco in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 at the Margaret Court Arena to enter the pre-quarters of the year’s first Grand Slam.
On the other hand, world number one Rafael Nadal and number five Dominic Thiem also extended their journey in Melbourne. Nadal defeated his countrymate Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to continue his bid to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam title.
Thiem, meanwhile, continued his hard-fought campaign by defeating American Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 at the Margaret Court Arena to reach the fourth round of Australian Open for the third time. In the preceding round he came on top of an exhausting five-setter against Australian Alex Bolt.
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