Tennis – Indian Wells: Daniil Medvedev dominates Frances Tiafoe (7-5, 7-6), he will play Sinner or Alcaraz in the final

That’s nineteen consecutive victories for Daniil Medvedev! In the first semi-final of the Indian Wells 2023 tournament, the Russian managed to defeat Frances Tiafoe in two sets and 1h46 of play (7-5, 7-6). Against an opponent at home and qualified for his first semi-final in Masters 1000, the winner of the US Open 2021 remained in his momentum to reach his first final in ATP 1000 since that played in Paris Bercy in… 2021.

Back at his very best, the Muscovite still needed eight match points to eliminate a very catchy Tiafoe under a blazing sun. In the final, Medvedev will be opposed to the winner of the second poster of the Californian day between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

That was a little over a year ago, March 14, 2022 to be exact. That day, Gaël Monfils had defeated Daniil Medvedev, then world number one, on Indian Wells’ number one court in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-1). Without a doubt, Frances Tiafoe would have liked to copy today the performance of a tennis player whom he has always considered a model to follow.

The mur Medvedev

But on the West Coast of the United States, the American faced a man he had never beaten so far in four confrontations, all disputed on hard court. Admittedly, Tiafoe had not yet reached his peak of form at this time, but the form of his opponent, winner of his last three tournaments in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, left him relatively little hope of winning. And in fact, it turned out to be right.

First solid in the service, Tiafoe understood that outflanking his opponent in long exchanges was an impossible mission. With very little waste in his game (only twelve unforced errors throughout the game), Medvedev acted as a wall to Big Foe. And in this little game, the Russian ended up breaking at 5-5 to unroll on his serve and pocket the first set in 42 minutes (7-5). Morally touched, Tiafoe seemed to sink when Medvedev, absolutely impassable, broke at the start of the second set and found himself with two double break points at 3-1.

But it was without counting on the combative behavior of Tiafoe: until the end, the native of Hyattsville believed in his chances and the break came when Medvedev served for the match. In a rather incomprehensible way, Medvedev went wrong on his serve at the end of the set… But he found his first ball in the decisive game to lead 5-1 at the change of sides and finally conclude on his eighth match point ( 7-6). In the event of a twentieth success in a row on the professional circuit, Medvedev will equal his longest period of invincibility and will win his fourth championship title in 2023. Chiche?