Russian Medvedev, next number one in the world, advances to the semifinal of the Mexican Tennis Open

MEXICO CITY, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Russian Daniil Medvedev, number two in the world, advanced to the semifinals of the Mexican Tennis Open on Thursday after quickly beating Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-3 in a hour and 10 minutes.

Medvedev will become world number one next Monday after Serbian Novak Djokovic lost to Czech Jiri Vesely 6-4, 7-6 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai tournament.

“I had to control my emotions knowing that I am going to be the next world number. It was not an easy match, but I was able to get through it keeping my composure,” Medvedev said after the match.

The 26-year-old easily won the first set where he hit seven aces and broke Nishioka’s serve three times.

For the second set, the Japanese number 103 in the world put Medvedev in trouble and had him down 3-1, but the Russian tennis player recovered and broke Nishioka’s serve twice and with two ace serves he won the five consecutive games. to stay with the victory and settle in the prelude to the final.

In the semi-final, Medvedev will face the winner of the match that will later be played by Spaniard Rafael Nadal and American Tommy Paul.

In the other keys to the quarterfinals, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will play against the American Marcos Giron, and the British Cameron Norrie will face the German Peter Gojowczyk.

(Report by Carlos Calvo Pacheco)