In a stunning display of tennis mastery, Daniil Medvedev proved once again why he is one of the game's most talented players.
In the semifinals of the 2023 Dubai Championships, he faced none other than world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who had been on an impressive 20-match winning streak, including his 22nd Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
On the other hand, Medvedev lost already twice this year. Once in Adelaide to Djokovic and then to Korda at Australian Open. But since then, he's been on a 12-match winning streak, winning titles in Rotterdam and Doha.
Despite Djokovic's undefeated record in 2023, Medvedev refused to be intimidated. He played with confidence and precision, dominating the match from start to finish and showed the Serb once again that he knows how to beat him.
Both players were dominant on their service games early on, but Medvedev soon increased the intensity to get the first break of the match. Soon after that, he added one more break, leading already 5-2 in the first set and serving for the set.
Yet, Djokovic fought back and got only two points away from leveling the score once again, but thanks to his serving, Medvedev won the first set 6-4 while both players hit 13 winners, including 5 aces, and made only 9 unforced errors combined.
The former world no. 1 started the second set in the best possible way, breaking Djokovic's serve in the first game and confirming his break with a hold in the next one.
In the fifth game of the second set, the match was stopped for a moment as Medvedev was called for a foot fault but disagreed with the decision, which was then overturned by the umpire. But since Djokovic also wasn't in an agreement with what happened, a further conversation took place.
But that wouldn't distract the Russian from eventually winning the match 6-4, 6-4, and setting up a final clash with his good friend Andrey Rublev, who defeated Alexander Zverev earlier today.
On the other hand, Djokovic will be waiting for news from the United States, as he may miss the 2023 BNP Paribas Open and the 2023 Miami Open.
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