Daniil Medvedev defeated the determined Alejandro Davidovich Fokin 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals in Indian Wells and extend his ATP winning streak to 18 in a row.
The world No. 6 from Russia was virtually unscathed from a sprained ankle he suffered a day earlier in a win over Alexander Zverev.
He raced through the first set, the Spaniard’s serve break in the second game being the only opening he needed as he dropped just six points on his serve en route to scoring a set in 39 minutes.
“I’m actually glad my ankle didn’t hurt a lot because when I warmed up it hurt a lot and I thought ‘I knew I’d play, I knew I’d try’ but I couldn’t move badly on warm-up,” Medvedev said.
“I tried to warm it up as long as possible and take one painkiller, so that probably helped, and I really felt better and better during the match,” added the former US Open champion.
A completely different story in the second set at the windy Court Stadium. Davidovich Fokin had a chance to break in each of the first three games with Medvedev’s serve, but the Russian came up with big serves to parry him.
Davidovich Fokina led 0-40 in the eighth game, but Medvedev managed to escape.
On the way, Medvedev fell once more on the court, this time scratching his hand and requiring the coach to bandage his bloodied thumb.
Having upset Davidovich Fokina from the back line, Medvedev pounced on the first signs of the Spaniard’s weakness in the set, made him fall in love and quickly played the match, ending it with a winning serve.
Medvedev, who was stripped of his titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai three weeks before Indian Wells, now has two days before he faces American Frances Tiafoe, who beat 2021 Indian Wells champion Cameron Norrie 6-4 , 6-. 4.
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Source: sports.yahoo.com
