Friday 20 August 2021

SF Preview: Will Rublev Have His Day Against Friend Medvedev?

After Andrey Rublev fell to 0-4 against Daniil Medvedev at tour-level earlier this year at the Australian Open, he remained optimistic.

“We're going to play I hope for many, many years, so at least once I think I will have a chance,” Rublev said, cracking a laugh. “Every time I play him — at the US Open I had chances, I had set points. Here I had break points. And then one day it's going to be my day.”

Will Saturday be his day when he meets the World No. 2 in the Western & Southern Open semi-finals? Rublev will try to upset his close friend and countryman, with whom he led Russia to ATP Cup glory this year, for a spot in his second ATP Masters 1000 final. But it will be a tough task, and it was no surprise that when Rublev was asked about the matchup, his reaction was priceless: “My good friend Daniil again.”

Daniil Medvedev 

Medvedev is playing his best tennis of the season, and is fresh off a 6-1, 6-1 masterpiece against seventh seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals. The top seed has won 18 of his past 20 matches, including a run to the Toronto trophy last week, which marked his fourth Masters 1000 title. He is attempting to become just the seventh male player in the Open Era to claim the Toronto-Cincinnati double.

“The higher your confidence is, the more there is a chance that you won’t have these weak spots, and that’s where you are tough to beat,” Medvedev said. “That’s how I’m feeling right now. But what is tough in tennis is you need to continue doing it day after day. 

Both men have enjoyed great success in Cincinnati. Two years ago, Rublev defeated Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer in back-to-back matches to make the quarter-finals. At that stage, he lost against Medvedev, who broke through at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre to lift his first Masters 1000 trophy.

Medvedev will have the mental edge, knowing he has won all 10 tour-level sets he has played against Rublev. The Monaco resident has proven he has the solution to nullify his countryman’s powerful game.

2021 MATCH WINS LEADERS

 Player W-L Titles 
 Stefanos Tsitsipas  48-13  2
 Daniil Medvedev  40-9  3
 Andrey Rublev  40-13  1
 Novak Djokovic  38-5  4
 Casper Ruud  39-11  4

Rublev typically crushes ball after ball until he blasts a winner or his opponent is no longer able to defend his attacks. But not only has Medvedev repelled his friend’s offence, he has shown the ability to take advantage of the few moments when Rublev has taken his foot off the gas, stepping into the court himself to take charge.

“You need to be focused 100 percent every point, because as soon as you relax or something, then he will use this opportunity. That's why it's important always, even if I'm not attacking, because maybe he [will] take advantage and he [will] start to attack,” Rublev said earlier this year. “For him it's also not easy. I'm not the only one who's suffering. He’s also suffering, because in the end for him it's tough to be always the one who needs to attack and then suddenly again to defend.”

[FOLLOW 1000]

Medvedev views their clashes similarly, knowing that the difference in points is often small opportunities within each rally.

“When I play him, I know I cannot lose focus. I need to be there all the points because one small opportunity that he gives me where he doesn’t hit full power, I try to use it, I try to take it," Medvedev said. "Of course I try to hit shots that he will not be able to attack, to [play] aggressively, because that’s his game. That’s normal against any player, you try to get him out of the comfort zone. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes not. But that’s what I’m going to try to do tomorrow.”

2021 MASTERS 1000 WINS LEADERS

 Player W-L  Titles 
 Stefanos Tsitsipas 17-4   1
 Andrey Rublev 15-5
 Casper Ruud 12-4  0
 Daniil Medvedev 12-3 
 John Isner  11-4  0

In the second semi-final, second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will attempt to maintain his ATP Head2Head dominance of Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Alexander Zverev, whom he leads 6-2.

Both men have been in great form. Tsitsipas is second in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin, and a title in Cincinnati would move him to within 1,195 points of first-place Novak Djokovic. The Greek also made the semi-finals last week in Toronto, where he lost a tough three-setter against American Reilly Opelka.

Zverev began the week without a win on his Western & Southern Open resume. But he has won nine consecutive matches, and is one of two players to reach the last four without dropping a set (also Medvedev).

Alexander Zverev

Not only has the German been winning, but he has been doing so convincingly. Zverev has only lost one set during his winning streak, and just two of the 18 sets he has won during this stretch have gone past 6-4.

“The matches are not going to get easier. I think Stef is somebody who is in incredible form right now and he’s looking forward to playing this match as well because we’re right in front of the US Open,” Zverev said in his on-court interview after defeating Norwegian Casper Ruud on Friday. “We should be playing our best tennis, and I think it’s going to be entertaining for all of us.”

Tsitsipas is never one to shy away from a test. The last time these two played was in the semi-finals at Roland Garros. The Greek lost the third and fourth sets before steadying himself to reach his first Grand Slam final.

Like Zverev, he had never won a match in Cincinnati before this week. But the 23-year-old is as confident as anyone, leading the ATP Tour with 48 wins this season. He now has his sights set on a fourth Masters 1000 final.

“I think it is important to accept the challenge, to embrace it and to want to pursue further success,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview after battling past Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals. “The sport that I chose to play, I’m out there playing it for the difficult moments and for the easy ones and I want to bring the best out of my game when things aren’t easy.”

Did You Know?
The top four seeds are in the Western & Southern Open semi-finals for the first time since 2009, when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic made it that far.



from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3CZh1lL

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