“This level… I have been looking for it for a long, long time” – confident Medvedev dispatches Sinner in Vienna

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the top seed, beat Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 6 seed, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Vienna Open at the Wiener Stadthalle on Friday.

Medvedev, ranked No 4, will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov next.

It was a convincing performance from Medvedev, who struck seven aces, lost just 13 points on serve and never faced a break point across the 90-minute encounter to improve to 4-0 lifetime against the 21-year-old Italian.

“Jannick is a top player and he can pose problems to anybody,” Medvedev said after the win, which was his 43rd of the season against 15 losses. “Basically last two grand slams, with the winner, he played five sets. So Jannick is a top player and I’m really happy today with my performance. I started amazingly well. I almost didn’t do any unforced errors. I was solid behind the baseline –  everything was working well today and I’m really happy about it.”

Medvedev hitting top level

Former world No 1 Medvedev has yet to drop serve in Vienna – he improves to 8-2 in quarter-finals in 2022, but clearly has his eyes on two more victories.

“This level, I have been looking for it for a long, long time,” he said. “That’s the level when I can win the most, and the biggest tournaments on tour, and I hope I can bring it for two more matches.”

Ready for a dangerous Dimitrov

Medvedev takes a 3-2 lifetime record into his semi-final with Dimitrov, but it was the Bulgarian, a former world No 3, who took their last meeting in October of 2021 at Indian Wells.

The Russian knows he could be in for another big challenge from the explosive 31 year old.

“Grigor, he’s a top player, he can beat anybody,” Medvedev said. “He was a top-three player making semis of slams. [He is] maybe a little bit maybe more up and down this year, but when he’s up, he’s amazing. So I just have to play, from my side, my best tennis and that’s how I can have the chances to win.”

Medvedev won against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (6-2, 6-2) and Austrian Dominic Thiem (6-3, 6-3) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of the Vienna, Sinner, ranked No 12, won against Chilean Cristian Garin (6-3, 6-2) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (7-5, 6-3).

Vienna ATP 500, other last 8 results (Wiener Stadthalle, EUR 2.349.180, most recent results first):

• Daniel Evans vs. Denis Shapovalov
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Borna Coric
• Grigor Dimitrov beat Marcos Giron: 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

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