BEIJING (Reuters) – Second seed Daniil Medvedev had an easier than expected 6-4 6-3 semi-final win over familiar rival Alexander Zverev on Tuesday to book his place in the China Open final where he will face either Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner.
“It’s an amazing, strong field so it’s great to be in the final against one of the amazing Sinner or Alcaraz,” Medvedev said after the match.
This was the fifth meeting between the pair this season and although the Russian world number three Medvedev won three of the previous four, Zverev had won their most recent clash in Cincinnati.
Zverev won the Chengdu title last week, but the German’s seven-match winning streak came to an end as Medvedev’s strong serve saw him save all four break points he faced.
“I’m really happy with my level. Roof closed, different conditions today, much faster,” Medvedev added.
“Both of us are big servers so it came down to just a few opportunities and I managed to serve better when I had break points to save than he did.”
Medvedev now awaits the winner of Tuesday’s second semi-final between top seed Alcaraz and Sinner.
In the women’s tournament, top seed Aryna Sabalenka rallied from behind in both sets to beat British qualifier Katie Boulter 7-5 7-6(2) and set up a third round clash with Jasmine Paolini.
Sabalenka said she hoped to avenge her 2022 Indian Wells defeat by the Italian.
“Last year at Indian Wells, I wasn’t in my best shape. I was struggling with a lot of different things,” Sabalenka said. “I’d say it wasn’t me last year. I’m happy to have this opportunity for revenge.”
U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff sealed her 14th straight win as the 19-year-old overcame Croatia’s Petra Martic 7-5 5-7 7-6(2) to reach the round of 16, where she will play Tokyo winner Veronika Kudermetova.
Gauff was down for the count with Martic serving at 5-4 in the decider, but the third seed broke to go level and raised her game in the tiebreak to deny her opponent a fifth career top-five victory.
The American’s frequent doubles partner Jessica Pegula also had to dig deep for a 6-7(2) 6-2 6-1 win over Anna Blinkova.
Pegula was playing her first match at the tournament having received a bye following her run to last week’s Tokyo final. The 29-year-old faces 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko seeking a fourth win in their fifth meeting.
World number two Iga Swiatek progressed with a 6-4 6-1 win over Varvara Gracheva and fifth seed Elena Rybakina beat Tatjana Maria 7-5 6-0 after Ons Jabeur lost 7-6(5) 6-1 to Marta Kostyuk.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes and Shrivathsa Sridhar; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
