Medvedev also gets into the Miami final

Daniil Medvedev He is not the tennis player of the year, because that honor right now belongs to Carlos Alcaraz, who overwhelmed him two Sundays ago in the match for the Indian Wells title. But the Russian is undoubtedly one of the great dominators of this season. This Friday, the Russian reached his fifth consecutive final in 2023 at the Miami Open by winning by 7-6 (5), 3-6 and 6-3 in 2h17 to his compatriot Karen Khachanov. On Sunday (7:00 p.m.) he will face his own Alcaraz oa Jannik Sinnerwho dispute the other semifinal.

“I have to believe in myself, I am capable of winning big titles and beating anyone. Although Carlos is on fire, nobody can win 100 games in a row, maybe 40 or 45 like Djokovic did. And at any moment, someone can throw water on that fire, it can be Jannik today, me on Sunday or someone else in the next tournament.”warned Medvedev, who had been in the finals of five of the six Masters 1,000 (Indian Wells, Canada, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris) and the two Grand Slams (Australian Open and US Open) that are played on hard courts. Only Miami was missing and the Muscovite took advantage of the inertia of his great moment of form to get even.

“I think I made it to six finals in 2019, so I have a bit of a margin. It’s crazy, but I’m going to try and I’m very happy with my results.”he joked. This course has been champion in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, and a finalist in Indian Wells and is the leader in victories (28). He has played eight in this category and the last one he won was in Toronto two years ago. He was on a 19-game winning streak since February 14 and has won 23 of his last 24 matches.

Determination

With that resume it was not easy for his colleague Khachanov to beat him, but he was pretty close to achieving it in a very even match. The first set, in fact, could have been his after canceling with a counterbreak the break that Medvedev had added in the eighth game. However, Daniil prevailed in the tiebreaker before idling the second heat. That disconnection cost him dearly, because Karen equalized the match. The Bear had not said the last word about him, and as if nothing had happened, he faced the third set with a determination that ended his rival’s resistance. Proof of this was the point that closed the game, in which the 27-year-old world number five did not give in until the 16th, of 26, failed after responding to a magnificent lob with a willy. Khachanov, who had ended a 23-game losing streak against the top-10 by beating Tsitsipas (3rd) in the round of 16, has a poor record against the top-5 (3-24). A significant fact.