Daniil Medvedev shocks Novak Djokovic to reach Cincinnati Masters final
- by Juana Turner
- in Sports
- — Aug 20, 2019
Cape Town - Novak Djokovic magnanimously admitted that Daniil Medvedev deserved to win their Cincinnati semi-final, adding that the Russian played fantastic tennis.
"I had a momentum chance in the second set and the crowd gave me energy", added the Russian, who will be playing his second Masters final in eight days, after falling to Rafael Nadal in Montreal last Sunday.
The first set Djokovic produced an nearly flawless display, hitting nine winners and just three unforced errors, compared to Medvedev's 11.
But the Belgian, without a victory since 2017, lost the tiebreak on a double-fault.
Medvedev explained why he had switched tactics.
"I'm exhausted. I'm honestly struggling to speak right now", the 23-year-old said courtside. "I made four serves he didn't return and it was unbelievable", the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted the Russian player as saying to ESPN. Medvedev came from a mini break down to take it going away. "It's the hard work I've been putting in".
He reeled off four successive points, including an ace on second serve, to hold and then broke Djokovic in the next game by ripping a victor down the line to seize the initiative.
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Medvedev is yet to win one of those finals but today represents his best opportunity, and certainly he'll start at a shorter price today than he did either against Nick Kyrgios (in Washington) or Rafa Nadal, who he met last week in Montreal - he's now trading at [1.46] on the Exchange to lift the trophy tonight.
"Hopefully I can regroup and get to the US Open fresh". "Not much that I could really do", admitted a magnanimous Djokovic. [Daniil] is working his way to the top five. "If I had lost I'd be seventh, now I'm fifth".
No 16 seed Goffin beat France's Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-4 in the earlier semi-final. It would not be good to lose three finals in a row, so I'm really happy about this. "I'm really feeling great about my tennis".
The first set's tale was twisted with Goffin getting back on serve at 4-3.
Gasquet grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second set before Goffin claimed five of the next six games.
Medvedev never looked back and he was delighted to win a match he acknowledged would often have slipped away in the past. The Belgian also benefited from a walkover in his quarter-final against Yoshihito Nishioka.
