By Staff Reporter
Childhood friends Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev remain on course for a second straight Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final showdown as the two Russian stars stormed into the semifinals on Thursday.
Showing no ill effect from his topsy-turvy third round three-set battle against hard-hitting Italian Lorenzo Sonego, Medvedev was in cruise control against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, winning the quarterfinal clash in straight sets 6-2 6-3.
Second seed Rublev earlier booked his place in the semifinals after his opponent Sebastian Korda retired in the second set of their quarterfinal clash.
Rublev, the world number five from Russia, was leading 6-4 4-3 when the 23-year-old American decided to retire due to an injury.
The ATP has yet to reveal the exact nature of Korda’s injury.
Korda was bidding to reach the semifinals in Dubai in his first appearance, 25 years after his father, Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion, played here for the third and final time.
Rublev didn’t look in complete control in windy conditions, but he did enough to take the first set.
“I think today the game was not very good, but not because of the level or something. The conditions were super tough. It was really windy. Was a lot of sun with the shadow on the court. Was tough to see the ball. But for both of us,” said Rublev, who has lost all nine of his quarterfinal matches in Grand Slams.
“Today you can see it was for him as well tough with the wind. A couple times he missed the return because the wind started to, I don’t know, move the ball a lot. I was feeling the same. Couple of shots I hit completely late.
“When it’s these kind of conditions, the tennis is always not that beautiful. You need to find a way. You have to accept that this is the way it is today.
“Sometimes today I was lucky as well because of those conditions. In important moments the ball moved because of the wind and he couldn’t play well. It helped me a lot today.”
Rublev, though, wished Korda, the world number 23, a speedy recovery ahead of the US hard court season.
“In the end, of course, you never want to finish in that way. All I can say is I hope there is nothing serious with Sebastian and he will be ready for Indian Wells Masters 100%,” the 26-year-old Russian star said.
The 2022 Dubai champion who also reached the final last year, will play Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan who entered the semifinal after his opponent, Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, retired due to an injury.
Bublik was leading 6-4 4-1 when Lehecka retired.
Unlike the first two quarterfinals, the third one, and the first of the evening session, lasted until the final point between two healthy players, Medvedev and Fokina.
But it was Medvedev, the defending champion, whose game looked in better shape, completely outplaying the Spaniard in the first set, grabbing it 6-2.
The 2021 US Open champion, who has won only one of his six Grand Slam final matches, then raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set.
Fokina, whose best Grand Slam performance came in 2021 when he reached the French Open quarterfinals, finally showed some spark in the fifth game by breaking Medvedev’s serve.
But the Russian never allowed him a chance to make a comeback into the set, finishing it and the match in the ninth game.
“I was feeling much better today on the court than yesterday. Not in my best shape yet, I have got some momentum now,” said Medvedev who lost the Australian Open final to Jannik Sinner in January.
