Medvedev sends Russians into Davis Cup semi-finals

The Russian Tennis Federation will take on Germany for a place in the final

AI / Reuters / Panoramic

December 2, 2021

2021 Davis Cup | Draw | Schedule

Daniil Medvedev sent the Russian Tennis Federation into the semi-finals of the Davis Cup on Thursday as he beat Mikael Ymer 6-4, 6-4 to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead over Sweden.

The world No 2 was pegged back after an early break but he broke again to take the first set and despite failing to serve out ay 5-2, he made no mistake second time round to seal the win.

Earlier, Andrey Rublev let slip a set and 5-3 lead against Elias Ymer before scraping a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory to give Russia the lead.

“The most important thing is that we’re winning a lot of matches, we didn’t lose a tie in the group,” Medvedev said. “Really looking forward to Saturday, it’s going to be my first Davis Cup so far, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

✅ Job done@DaniilMedwed puts RTF in back-to-back semi-finals, sweeping past Mikael Ymer 6-4 6-4.#DavisCupFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/XCqHxXblAq
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) December 2, 2021

Rublev overcomes “the fear”

Rublev said he had relaxed too much in the second set as the finishing line approached and then had to regroup to get the win.

“I was playing with a fear (in the third set),” he said. “I was showing emotions in beginning the third set. I said to myself, if I want to win, I need to change my attitude, I need to start to believe as well. If I want, I can win this match. It depends on me, it’s not depending on him.

“I started to play a bit better. Every game I had a lot of chances, breakpoints, but I couldn’t make them. In the end
I make it on the tiebreak. This is the most important thing.”

With the tie decided, the doubles was cancelled, the ITF said.