Roberto Bautista Agut hasn't done much winning this year but he was able to earn his 5th win over Daniil Medvedev in their 7th match.
Daniil Medvedev continued his lacklustre form at the 2023 Halle Open, suffering another surprising defeat following the early exit at the French Open and the recent Den Bosch disappointment. The first set opened with a typical grass match opening of the player's nicely trading breaks.
After they proved to each other that they are beatable, Medvedev and Bautista Agut started to play very dominantly on the serve so we didn't see a single break point chance until the final game of the set. In the final game of the set, Medvedev approached things a bit too loose and the Spaniard ran away with the set.
It was a pretty flawless set by both players for the most part but in the end a bit too loose from Medvedev. Bautista generally served a bit more precisely in the match. The second set saw a much better improvement in serve from Medvedev with the serve of Bautista Agut regressing a bit.
Still, the Russian struggled in the rallies a bit too much for his liking. He had to save break points again (4) just like Bautista (1) but overall he seemed a bit more disjointed in the way he played. It's not the dominant Medvedev we saw earlier this year when he won a couple of trophies including the Miami and Italian Open. Since he lost at Roland Garros, Medvedev has looked quite vulnerable.
That continued in the final set tiebreak as Medvedev once again played a bit too loose. It happens to him from time to time. He keeps playing the way he always does even if things don't go this way. That happened in this one and a very solid Bautista-Agut was able to get it done in two sets. Final score was 7-5 7-6(3) for Bautista and he now awaits the winner of the match between Andrey Rublev and Tallon Griekspoor in the semifinal.
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