Resilient Djokovic fends off Shapovalov to reach Adelaide semis; Medvedev next
The Serb will now take on Medvedev for the third time in four months
Al/Reuters/Panoramic
Top seed Novak Djokovic was at his resilient best as he fended off the challenge of Denis Shapovalov to reach the semi-finals of the Adelaide International 1 on Friday.
Djokovic, ranked No 5, clinched a 6-3, 6-4 triumph but needed one hour, 54 minutes to finish it off, having come through some testing service games early in the first set.
The former world No 1 will now play No 3 seed Daniil Medvedev, the man who denied him the calendar-year Grand Slam at the 2021 US Open.
Scoreline doesn’t tell the full story
“I think the scoreline probably doesn’t tell the whole story of what happened on the court,” Djokovic said. “It was two sets, almost two hours.
Djokovic had to save break points in two of his first three service games as the left-handed Shapovalov threw everything at him. But the Serb dug deep and when Shapovalov double faulted three times in the eighth game, he sealed the break before taking the set after 61 minutes.
The 35-year-old broke early in the second set but Canadian Shapovalov hit back to level at 3-3 and stayed with Djokovic until the Serb broke in the ninth game, before finishing things off with a volley into the open court.
Djokovic is through to the last four without dropping a set, having beaten Frenchman Constant Lestienne (6-3, 6-2) and Frenchman Quentin Halys (7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)) ahead of his victory.
Shapovalov, ranked No 18, won against Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata (2-6, 6-4, 6-3) and Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin (6-4, 6-3).
Adelaide ATP250, other last-eight results (Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, hard, USD 642.735, most recent results first):
- Daniil Medvedev beat Karen Khachanov (8): 6-3, 6-3
- Sebastian Korda beat Jannik Sinner (6): 7-5, 6-1
- Yoshihito Nishioka beat Alexei Popyrin: 7-6 (4), 6-7 (8), 6-2
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