Australian Open 2022: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev will face one another in the semifinals after a dominant display in the quarterfinals.
The Russian however, had to drag himself out from the brink as Felix Auger-Aliassime nearly took the match. Medvedev had to avoid a match-point and after that he was uncatchable.
The second seed stood deep behind the baseline throughout, countering Auger-Aliassime’s heavy-hitting with great depth and consistency off the ground.
The Russian saved one match point on serve in the fourth set at 4-5, 30/40 with a powerful first serve as he showcased his champion mentality under pressure to extend his perfect ATP Head2Head record against the ninth seed to 4-0.
Daniil Medvedev after the match: “I was not playing my best and Felix was playing unbelievably,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “[He was] serving unbelievably, he was all over me. I did not really know what to do, but I told myself, I am going to make him work and fight until the last point. I managed to raise my level. When they closed the roof I felt the momentum change, that I could hit through the court better.”
“On the match point I managed to serve well,” Medvedev added. “It is funny because with my locker bag I come with lots of clothes just in case. It is full and tough to zip up, but now it is empty, so that is how this match was.”
The Canadian was using his power to good use blasting heavy groundstrokes. His footwork too was silky smooth and took a break for a 6-5 lead in the opening set. Although he failed to take the win in the following service, he managed to take the tie-break.
The 21-year-old continued to apply the pressure in the second set, breaking immediately before he dominated on serve. The ninth seed did not face a breakpoint in the set and won 85 percent (17/20) of points behind his first delivery to pull further clear.
The strategy for the Russian didn’t change as he continued to sit behind the baseline. He dragged the Canadian to a tie-break where after a small rain break took the charge.
Medvedev then faced more adversity in the fourth set, but once again came up with the answers, saving one match point with a powerful serve at 4-5, 30/40, before he turned the tables on the Canadian to break.
After holding to level, the World No. 2 further showcased his big-game mindset in the decider, saving all six break points he faced as he upped his power to advance, improving his fifth-set record to 3-7.
Playing his third Australian Open semifinals: Unlike Medvedev, Tsitsipas had a fairly easy going against Jannik Sinner. Coming from an epic five-setter in the last round, the Greek dominated with 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Tsitsipas, who won all four of his breakpoints, did his damage early in each set. On serve, he was pushed as far as deuce just once and never faced a breakpoint.
Stefanos Tsitsipas: “Jannik is a very good player. So I tried to focus on my best shots and it paid off more than I thought,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “I am very, very happy with the way I served today and the way I came in and used my tactics in today’s match structure. Having the crowd support is truly unbelievable.”
“It is part of the game,” Tsitsipas said on the roof closing. “I knew I was heading towards the right direction with the game I managed to create from the start of the match. The conditions changed when the roof was closed, slightly faster. I tried to adapt to these new conditions and it just worked.”
With great crowd support, Tsitsipas dazed the Italian with a blazing start, looking explosive in his lateral movement and of his favored forehand wing. After holding from 0/30 in the opening game, he broke from 40/15 on Sinner’s serve as he built an immediate 3-0 cushion. From there on it was just holding the serve.
Tsitsipas struck early in the second set too which gave him a two-set lead. He won rallies of 14 to 16 balls and hit the line with a down-the-line backhand winner to take complete command.
A stunning backhand pass set up another early break as set three followed the established scoring pattern. After lasering that down-the-line winner off a Sinner swinging volley, Tsitsipas made it three-for-three on breakpoints when an unforced error from the 11th seed ended an eight-ball rally.
After Tsitsipas fought through deuce for the only time in the match to hold for 3-1, another break extinguished any hope of a Sinner comeback.
