Holder Medvedev edges Tsitsipas in high-quality semi-final to reach Vienna title decider

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the top seed, edged out Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 4 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (6) to reach the final of the Vienna Open at the Wiener Stadthalle on Saturday.

Medvedev, ranked No 3, hit 20 winners and 10 unforced errors to win a match of the highest quality and book his place in a ninth final of the year. It was his 64th win of the year, a personal record and he will now play Andrey Rublev, the No 3 seed, or Italian Jannik Sinner, for the title as he tries to complete a successful defence of a title for the first time in his career.

“I served well throughout the whole match,” Medvedev said. “I had one double fault in the tiebreak but it was a good double fault, I thought.

“I had some opportunities in the match but he was playing well. On these kind of fast surfaces, you need to play good in one game and get the break. I’m happy I was able to do that.”

Medvedev extends lead over Tsitsipas to 9-4

Medvedev continued his brilliant year and extended his lead over Tsitsipas to 9-4 thanks to some brilliant serving under pressure, having taken his chances superbly on Saturday.

Tstisipas played close to his very best, coming to the net more than 20 times in all as he tried to take the attack to the Russian and it was just a couple of loose shots that proved the difference.

The first was a forehand volley into the net at 3-3 in the first set which allowed Medvedev to find the momentum and go on to get the one break of the opener, having saved three break points himself in the previous game.

The second set was pure quality, with both men digging deep to hold serve. Tsitsipas saved a break point at 5-5 with a fine forehand but in the tiebreak, despite a double fault by the Russian at 5-4, he missed one final forehand by centimetres to give Medvedev the win.

The Russian won against Frenchman Arthur Fils (6-4, 6-2), Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (3-6, 6-2, 6-4) and No 8 seed Karen Khachanov (6-3, 3-6, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds, Tsitsipas, ranked No 7, won against Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem (7-6 (5), 6-4), qualifier Tomas Machac (6-3, 4-6, 7-5) and Croat wildcard Borna Gojo (7-6 (4), 7-5).

Vienna ATP500, other semi-final result (Wiener Stadthalle, EUR 2.409.835):

• Andrey Rublev vs. Jannik Sinner