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Medvedev Cruises Into Dubai Semi-finals

Daniil Medvedev is the defending champion in Dubai - AFP
Daniil Medvedev is the defending champion in Dubai - AFP
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Medvedev Cruises Into Dubai Semi-finals

Daniil Medvedev is the defending champion in Dubai - AFP
Daniil Medvedev is the defending champion in Dubai - AFP

Daniil Medvedev raced to victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday to reach the Dubai semi-finals and continue his excellent start to the year.

The world number four wasted little time in wrapping up a 6-2, 6-3 win and will face Ugo Humbert in the last four.

"Alejandro can play very well," Medvedev said. "Sometimes during matches he can have a little down moment and then he goes up.

"I knew that no matter the score, I needed to go until the last point."

The Russian is playing in just his second tournament of the season after reaching the Australian Open final, where he suffered an agonising defeat by Jannik Sinner after leading by two sets.

Reigning champion Medvedev is bidding to defend an ATP title for the first time, having won 20 trophies at Tour-level events in his career but all at different tournaments.

Medvedev eased through the opening set with breaks in the sixth and eighth games, AFP reported.

He powered into a 4-0 lead in the second and sealed victory on his first match point, despite a brief rally from Davidovich Fokina, who has now lost all four of his meetings with Medvedev.

Medvedev had to come from a set down against Lorenzo Sonego in the previous round, but said he may have been struggling with an illness.

"I don't know what happened yesterday. A few people around me got a small virus, so maybe it is this," he said.

"Some days that happens but I am happy today happened. I am not at my best shape yet but we have some more matches."

Fifth-seeded Humbert of France saved three match points in the second-set tie-break on his way to a 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 victory against third seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

Humbert, who hit 24 winners, had also defeated Hurkacz en route to the title in Marseille earlier this month.

Alexander Bublik and Andrey Rublev will meet in the other semi-final after both were beneficiaries of retirements in their last-eight matches.

Kazakhstan's Bublik led 6-4, 4-1 when his opponent Jiri Lehecka quit their tie with injury.

Second seed Rublev was 6-4, 4-3 ahead when American Sebastian Korda left the court in the second quarter-final.

The win ended a run of three successive quarter-final exits for world number five Rublev.

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Alex Michelsen Upsets Tsitsipas at the Australian Open and Thanks His Mom

Alex Michelsen of the US plays a backhand return to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
Alex Michelsen of the US plays a backhand return to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
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Alex Michelsen Upsets Tsitsipas at the Australian Open and Thanks His Mom

Alex Michelsen of the US plays a backhand return to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)
Alex Michelsen of the US plays a backhand return to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP)

Alex Michelsen produced the biggest win so far of his fledgling career to upset 2023 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the Australian Open, and he knew instinctively where credit was due.

The 20-year-old American overcame nerves on his serve in the fourth set before clinching a 7-5, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win Monday over Tsitsipas, a 26-year-old from Greece who has a career-high No. 3 ranking and has contested two Grand Slam finals.

Michelsen started playing tennis around age 3 and hit most days as a kid with his mother, Sondra, a school teacher who played college tennis.

"Yeah, I’m sure she’s watching right now," Michelsen told the crowd on John Cain Arena, one of the three main show courts at Melbourne Park. "Yeah, we hit a million balls from the baseline every day. We’d go like 30 minutes up the middle, then we go across each way for like an hour and a half.

"I mean we would just go out there and she would never miss a ball — she’s incredible. But no chance I’d be here without her, so thanks Mom. Love you."

The No. 42-ranked Michelsen reached the third round last year on his Australia debut before losing in the first rounds at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and in the second round at the US Open.

His win over Tsitsipas was Michelsen's first against a player ranked in the top 20 at a Grand Slam.

He played with freedom against Tsitsipas, taking big swipes with his service returns — including three in the ninth game of the fourth set that helped earn him a vital break.

He got a bit tense on serve, surrendering two hard-earned breaks in the fourth set, but stayed composed in the last game.

"Yeah, I didn’t take the most direct path, that’s for sure. Shouldn’t have got broken twice in the fourth. My serve let me down. Served double faulting way too much," he said. "But I was also returning really, really well. I felt like I was winning most of the baseline rallies when I was inside the baseline and controlling the point.

"So I was thinking at 4-all, after I got broken twice, saying, ‘You’re still in this, just play every point for what it is.’ I played a great 4-all game and got it done at 5-4."

He finished the match with eight aces and eight double-faults, but hit 46 winners to only 40 unforced errors.

"First of all, I was just trying to stay super composed out there. I knew it was going to be a battle in the end," he said. "It’s all about the mindset."