Medvedev takes care of Hanfmann 6-2, 6-2 advance to the first semi-final in Rome
Daniil Medvedev from Russia claims he can’t play clay, but he was in disbelief in the quarter-finals in Rome. Old World #1 had a great season. In addition to reaching the finals in Indian Wells (l. Alcaraz), he won four titles, including his first in Miami, the Masters 1000 event.
In the semi-finals in Dubai, he defeated the twenty-two-time Grand Slam champion and #1 Novak Djokovic and owned the former world #2 Alexander Zverev has three victories this season, incl 4round in Rome. The 2021 US The open champion never made it past the first round at Foro Italico and had to beat another German, Yannick Hafmann, to advance to the final four.
Hanfmann an ATP tour veteran at thirty-one, played tennis at the University of Southern California and was on the team when they won two NCAA Champions. A two-time tour level finalist, he has achieved a career high 92 and is currently #101.
Since arriving in the Eternal City, he has gone through the qualifiers and has not looked back. On the way to the quarters he eliminated two seeds; world #9 Taylor Fritz in Simple and Reigning Champion of Monte Carlo and the World #6Andrei Rublev.
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
It was their first meeting at the tour level. Medvedev won the toss and chose to receive. In cool, overcast conditions, Hanfmann made three backhand errors and dropped the serve. Medvedev missed 5/ /8 first serve, including two double faults, and gave a time-out.
The German opened the third with a volley, had three deuces and three break points and lost a serve when he scored another goal with a forehand volley. The Russian redeemed himself with three consecutive winners and solidified the break in love.
Hanfmann opened the fourth game with an excellent forehand shot, but after three unforced errors, he dropped the serve for the third time. Medvedev was two-for-two, but with exceptional defense and three groundstroke winners held 5-1.
Hanfmann serving to stay on set handled the love embrace well. Medvedev served the set with new balls, and although he made three unforced faults, including a third double, he saved both break points with aces and secured the set with a no-return serve.
Hanfmann served first in the second, and while he hit two winning forehands, he faced a double break point and threw a pass when he missed a wide forehand to the left. Medvedev opened with a stunning forehand pass from outside the doubles area. Facing four deuces and two breakpoints with three additional double faults still upheld 2-0 with a great crosscourt backhand after a well-hit drop shot.
Hanfmann crushed two forehand winners and held thirty Down 1-2 while Medvedev hit two aces and held thirty Down 3-1. The German opened the fourth game with two wins, but with four faults of two on each side, he lost the serve, while Medvedev had two deuces and a break point, and gave the fourth unforced fault a break.
Hanfmann opened seventh with two faults, faced a triple break point and threw a pass when it hit the net. Medvedev was serving for the match 5-2. Despite making a two-time opening mistake, he secured the win on his own 8ace and an amazing forehand along the line. The man who allegedly discredits dirt made his first semi-final at the final championship of the season 1000 clay party.
It would seem that this was a completely one-sided affair, but it was not. Hanfmann had a higher rate of first administration (71/ /56) and scored a higher percentage of second serve points (57/ /37) and second service return points (63/ /43). The German finished with four fewer winners (19/ /23), but only one unforced error (14/ /13).
Medvedev scored twenty points more than Hanfmann and hit 8 aces and 7 double mistakes. Old World #1 he can’t afford to give so many points to his next opponent. In the penultimate round, he will face a familiar opponent: Stefanos Tsitsipas or Borna Coric.
Leads Tsitsipas, world #5 and two-time Monte Carlo champion 7-4 in a duel, splitting the two previous encounters on the ground. Follows Coric, World #16 and the reigning West & Southern Open Champion (d. Tsitsipas) 3-4 in a duel, although the Russian won in the last meeting of this season in Dubai. This would be their first encounter on clay with a coveted spot in the lane finals.
