Marvellous Medvedev Ends Auger-Aliassime’s Title Defence In Rotterdam

Daniil Medvedev maintained his perfect record against Felix Auger-Aliassime in style Friday at the ABN AMRO Open, where the sixth seed took out the defending champion 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The 27-year-old Medvedev was relentless from the baseline in the 83-minute quarter-final in Rotterdam, hitting just five unforced errors across the two sets to Auger-Aliassime’s 20. That consistency proved crucial in enabling the World No. 11 to break the Canadian’s serve four times en route to extending his lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 5-0.

“Today was my best match of the week, but I have to build on this,” said Medvedev post-match. “Usually, the best weeks you play, many times you’re going to play your best tennis in the last match, so that’s definitely a goal. But I’m happy with my level today, beating someone like Felix in straight sets.”

With the win, Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals in Rotterdam for the second time, having also reached that stage in 2019. His next opponent in the Netherlands will be Grigor Dimitrov, after the Bulgarian saved two match points to down Alex de Minaur 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) in a dramatic opening quarter-final earlier on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime lifted his maiden ATP Tour crown at the Rotterdam Ahoy a year ago. The 22-year-old struggled to match the level he showed during that title run against Medvedev, yet many of his wayward groundstrokes could be attributed to the superb defensive skills of his opponent at vital moments.

Medvedev’s persistence forced the Canadian to push a forehand long for the first break of serve in the fifth game of the match, before more scrambling way behind the baseline earned the 15-time tour-level titlist a 5-2 lead with a double break after Auger-Aliassime’s forehand clipped the net and flew long.

Despite signs of resistance from Auger-Aliassime in the second set, when he took advantage of a rare below-par game from his opponent to reclaim a break for 2-2, Medvedev stayed dialled-in to clinch his eighth consecutive victory at ATP 500-level. The sixth seed broke again — and this time decisively — in the seventh game to extend his streak, which he began by claiming the title in Vienna last October.

Earlier on Friday, Dimitrov returned to the Rotterdam semi-finals for the first time since his 2018 run to the championship match by clinching a two-hour, 34-minute thriller against De Minaur.

Despite a mid-match lapse from the Bulgarian that allowed De Minaur to claim five games in a row en route to the second set, he had no such problems retaining his composure in the deciding-set tie-break. Facing two match points at 4/6, Dimitrov reeled off four points in a row, sealing his win with a wonderful forehand pass under pressure that just clipped the line.

Dimitrov is chasing his first ATP Tour final appearance since his Rotterdam run five years ago, and Medvedev was under no illusions about the scale of his task in Saturday’s semi-final.

“I kind of know the plan for the game,” said Medvedev when asked about his preparations for the Dimitrov clash. “The thing is, he is going to try to do the same, to make up a good plan. If we take the last two matches, it’s 1-1. So I always say a new match is a new match, no matter the head to head.

“I’m preparing for a tough one tomorrow, he’s such a great player and today was a great match from him, a great comeback actually. So I’m ready for the tough fight tomorrow.”