Indian Wells:
Daniil Medvedev’s right ankle pain was not a factor on Wednesday as he defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals at the Indian Wellswhere Aryna Sabalenka and Frances Tiafoe raced to the final four.
Medvedev showed some ill effects from the sprained ankle he suffered in a three-set match with Alexander Zverev the day before as he pushed his streak of ATP victories to 18 straight.
He earned a semi-final matchup with 16th-seeded America Tiafoe, who beat 2021 Indian Wells winner Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka, still retaining her Grand Slam title in Melbourne, defeated Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the singles. combination of the WTA and ATP Masters 1000.
Sabalenka will face 2022 runner-up Maria Sakkari after the Greek seventh seed defeated Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Medvedev arrived in the California desert on a high after winning titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai in three weeks.
A critic of the slow tennis courts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, he made it to the quarters for the first time after holding on to beat Zverev despite a sprained ankle.
“I’m very happy that the ankle didn’t hurt too much because when I warmed up it hurt a lot,” Medvedev said. “I couldn’t move well in the warm-up.
“I tried to warm up as long as possible and drank one drink to relieve the pain which probably helped and I felt really good and good during the game. ,” added the former US Open champion, who has two days off before facing Tiafoe.
He raced through the opening set, a break of the Spaniard’s serve in the second game being the only chance he needed as he managed just six points in his served as he moved to get the set in 39 minutes.
It was a different story in the second set on the windy court. Davidovich Fokina had a break in Medvedev’s first three games, but only the Russians came up big to stop him.
Davidovich Fokina went up 0-40 in the eighth game only Medvedev escaped.
On the way Medvedev fell on the court again, this time he cut his hand and needed the coach to bandage his bloody thumb.
“Daniel has won many rounds, many matches in a row and you can see how strong he is on the court,” said Davidovich Fokina.
“It was an interesting match with the wind,” he added. “We all had chances to break, he had his chance before I did, but that’s the way it is.”
Sabalenka, ranked second in the world, beat Gauff 6-4, 6-0, turning the tables on a player who had won three of their first four meetings.
Sabalenka was in complete control of her serve, and her thunderous groundstrokes left Gauff with few options.
The Belarusian shot five aces and a total of 18 wins, ending the match without facing a break and three straight that cannot be returned.
He said he was a different player than when he lost to Gauff in Toronto last year – and since he won his second title of the year at the Australian Open.
“I think I’m more comfortable on the court, and I’m able to control my emotions, which helps me stay in the game no matter what.” a, and just fight for every point,” said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka will face a battle-tested opponent in Sakkari, who has taken all four matches to three sets this week.
Tiafoe, who reached his first Masters 1000 semi without dropping a set, made it clear that he is looking beyond the last four.
“It’s very nice, but the Semi,” said Tiafoe. “The job isn’t done yet.”
Tiafoe broke Norrie twice in the second set to take the match to 5-2.
He was broken, but he didn’t make a mistake on his next chance as he finished it at love.
“In the end, it was a bit difficult, but it was a bit of a one-way street and I’m really happy with where my game is at,” he said.
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