DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated Hubert Gurkacs 6:3, 7:5 to face former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the Dubai Championship.
The five-time Dubai champion’s 20th straight victory set the stage for a last-four match against Medvedev, who defeated Bornu Coric 6-3, 6-2 in a nightcap in a hard court tournament.
“Now I play well, but when you play Novak, Novak is always the favourite,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview. “He plays great, moves great. I’ve always had good fights with him so I hope to be in better shape tomorrow because that’s the only way to beat him.”
Djokovic is playing in his first tournament since winning the Australian Open, claiming a record 22nd Grand Slam singles title. The 35-year-old Serbian suffered a partially torn hamstring as he claimed his 10th title at Melbourne Park.
Djokovic has improved to 15-0 this season and hasn’t lost since losing in the Paris Masters final to Holger Rune last November. He then won the ATP Finals title in Turin.
In the other semi-final match, the reigning Dubai champion Andrey Rublev will face Alexander Zverev.
Rublev moved forward by defeating Botić van de Zandschulp 6-3, 7-6 (3). Zverev defeated Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4.
This will be Zverev’s first semi-final since the French Open last June, when he injured his right ankle playing against Rafael Nadal. A few days later, he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments.
“The last, I would say, nine months have been very difficult for me,” the 25-year-old German, runner-up at the 2020 US Open, said in an on-court interview. “Hard work pays off and I’m very pleased with the progress and the way I’m playing now.”
Rublev, a 25-year-old Russian ranked 6th, reached the semi-finals for the third year in a row.
Djokovic will play with Medvedev in the semi-final in Dubai, Rublev will play with Zverev originally appeared on NBCSports.com
Source: sports.yahoo.com
