Medvedev shocks Djokovic to reach Dubai Tennis Championships final

DUBAI: In-form Daniil Medvedev remains on-track to seal a third consecutive ATP Tour title after eclipsing world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Looking to add Dubai glory to recent triumphs in Rotterdam and Doha, Medvedev made the most of a surprisingly out-of-sorts display by the 22-time Grand Slam winner to reach his first Dubai final, where he will face Andrey Rublev, a 6-3, 7-6 victor over Alexander Zverev earlier in the evening.

With an expectant Center Court full to the rafters when Djokovic, the tournament’s top seed, strode into Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium chasing a seventh final in the emirate, the contest’s early throes progressed on serve as both players felt each other out in sharing the first four games.

Medvedev, however, capitalized on a string of uncharacteristic Djokovic mistakes in the middle of the set to break the world No. 1 twice in quick succession. And while Djokovic broke back in game eight, and held serve in game nine, the 27-year-old Medvedev served out to seal the opening set 6-4 in 39 minutes.

After gifting Medvedev 16 points through unforced errors in the first set, Djokovic was unable to turn the tide at the start of the second set with Medvedev, the world No. 7, immediately breaking the five-time Dubai winner to maintain his momentum.

As mistakes continued to plague the 35-year-old Serbian’s comeback attempt, Djokovic, who desperately changed his racket in an attempt to curtail the litany of errors, cut a frustrated figure as the relentless stream of overhit groundstrokes and under-hit dropshots left Medvedev in a position to serve out the match at 5-3. The big-serving third seed, now on a 13-match winning streak going