World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev on Thursday powered into the semi-finals of the hard-court tournament in Los Cabos, Mexico, with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ricardas Berankis.
Medvedev, playing his first tournament since bowing out of the quarter-finals in Mallorca, Spain, in June, had launched his return with his 250th career match win over Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata on Wednesday.
He said the victory over Lithuania’s Berankis felt “very different,” but the outcome was the same and never looked in doubt as Medevedev reeled off eight straight games to go from 2-2 in the opening set to 6-2, 4-0 and fully in control.
Photo: AFP
“My opponent played very different, much more aggressive,” Medvedev said, adding that it actually worked to his advantage.
“To be honest, against that type of player sometimes you don’t have much to do. Just try to serve well, bringing the balls back in the court,” he said. “That’s what I managed to do. He missed a little bit too much today and that was enough.”
Medvedev, who last year ended Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar Grand Slam with his triumph over the Serb in the US Open final, dropped just three points on first serve, despite putting less than half in play.
He saved two break points in the opening set, but was otherwise largely untroubled, clinching the win with his eighth ace on match point as he finished it out with a love game.
Medvedev next faces fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia for a place in the final. Kecmanovic beat Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 6-4.
Medvedev is chasing his first title of the year. He fell to Rafael Nadal in an agonizing Australian Open final and missed Wimbledon because of its ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
If he reaches the final, Medvedev would be assured of taking the world No. 1 ranking into his defense of the US Open title at Flushing Meadows later this month.
In the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles, Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin and Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina stunned second seeds and reigning Wimbledon champions Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Tseng and Etcheverry face fourth seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Marcelo Melo of Brazil in the semi-finals.
Additional reporting by staff writer
An 82-year-old man on Saturday set off from Kaohsiung’s Sizihwan Bay (西子灣) to circumnavigate Taiwan in a sailboat in 29 days. Chinese Taipei Sailing Association vice president Chan Cheng-feng said the trip had been a dream of his for the past 40 years. Chan, who also heads the Kaohsiung Municipal Athletics Federation’s sailing committee, has been working to promote the sport in Taiwan since leaving the Marine Corps in 1976. The biggest challenge has been ensuring that people learn how to deal with problems at sea and know how to avoid danger, Chan said. The octogenarian said it is exciting to “still be having
Tuesday night was another home run, another pitching win, another spot in the history books — just another night for Shohei Ohtani. The two-way sensation from Japan withstood another injury scare and pitched six scoreless innings to go with his team-leading 25th home run, reaching yet another monumental milestone as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 5-1. Ohtani joined Babe Ruth (1918) as the only players in major league history to have at least 10 home runs and 10 wins in the same season. The Angels said that two players from the Negro Leagues also did it: Bullet Rogan of the
A tearful Naomi Osaka on Tuesday retired injured and US Open champion Emma Raducanu fell at the first hurdle as the top women’s players continued their preparations for Flushing Meadows at the Canadian Open in Toronto. News of the pending retirement of Serena Williams overshadowed proceedings at the tune-up for the year’s final Grand Slam, but there were no shortage of first-round upsets for fans to enjoy, including one by local Bianca Andreescu. Twice US Open champion Osaka, in only her second tournament back from an Achilles injury, battled on gamely before retiring while trailing Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (7/4), 3-0. “I felt my
As David Popovici has accelerated past his older rivals in the pool this summer, it seemed inevitable that the skinny 17-year-old would threaten world records. The only surprise when he broke the 100m freestyle mark in Rome on Saturday was that he got so quick so fast. On Friday, the Romanian had become only the fourth man in history to swim under 47 seconds as he set a European record to win his semi-final at the European Aquatics Championships in Rome. That was more than half a second faster than his gold-medal time at the FINA World Championships in June. On Saturday,
RSS