New world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev to renew rivalry with Rafael Nadal in Acapulco semis
Daniil Medvedev defeated Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-3 in Acapulco on Thursday to storm into the semifinals of the ATP 500 event, where he will take on Rafael Nadal in an Australian Open final rematch. Medvedev, who took the court hours after Novak Djokovic's quarter-final loss in Dubai meant the Russian would replace him atop the rankings, converted six break points and fired down 12 aces, including one to seal the match. "It's not easy, actually, to play a match when you get this (news) during the day," Medvedev said in his on-court interview when asked about becoming world number one. "So then when I was receiving all the messages, well I understood that, yeah OK, it's going to happen." After blitzing his way through the first set, during which he converted all three break point chances and won 80% of his first serve points, Medvedev was forced to rally back in the second after falling behind 3-1.
