World No. 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic saw his 20-match win streak of 2023 snapped Friday when Daniil Medvedev pulled off a 6-4, 6-4 win in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Classic in the United Arab Emirates.
Medvedev, the third seed and World No. 7, increased his winning streak to 13 matches, and he’ll be seeking his third straight tournament title on Saturday when he meets second-seeded Andrey Rublev in an all-Russian final. Rublev defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the seventh seed, 6-3, 7-6 (9) to advance.
On Friday, Medvedev committed 12 unforced errors compared to 38 for Djokovic. Medvedev improved to 5-9 all-time against the Serbian. Djokovic was seeking his sixth Dubai title, winning in 2009-11, 2013 and 2020.
In the other semifinal, Rublev broke Zverev’s serve three times to take the first set. In the second set, Zverev served nine aces, and neither player forced a service break. In the end, the set came down to just a three-point differential, with Rublev tallying 47 to 44 for Zverev.
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Seventh-seeded Tommy Paul earned the longest win ever at the 30-year-old event in Acapulco, Mexico, edging third-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (2) in an all-U.S. semifinal.
The showdown lasted 3 hours, 25 minutes, and Paul prevailed by logging a better first-serve percentage (66 percent to 54 percent) and hitting more winners (39-30). Paul also finished with 35 unforced errors to Fritz’s 33.
Paul will look for the second tournament championship of his career. His only prior title came in 2021 at Stockholm.
His final-round opponent will be eighth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia, who pulled out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark that ended early Saturday morning.
Movistar Chile Open
Two Argentines will duel for a spot in the final after third-seeded Sebastian Baez and Tomas Martin Etcheverry earned quarterfinal wins over Serbian opponents in Santiago.
Baez ousted sixth-seeded Laslo Djere 7-6 (4), 6-4, with the winner facing just one break point in the match. Etcheverry crushed Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-2, serving the match’s only six aces and saving all three break points on his serve.
Local favorite Nicolas Jarry of Chile, who rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, will face off with Spain’s Jaume Munar in the other semifinal. Munar took down Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
–Field Level Media
