Medvedev Makes It Five Straight Finals
Medvedev Makes It Five Straight Finals
Daniil Medvedev had the home crowd roaring on Saturday, and they will be raising the decibel levels once again if the Russian can make history at the St. Petersburg Open.
The 23-year-old made his fifth consecutive final at the ATP 250, beating Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov 7-5, 7-5. Medvedev broke in the 11th game of the opener, and, after the two exchanged breaks midway through the second set, the Russian broke again in the 11th game of the second before closing out the match in 91 minutes.
The World No. 4, who’s into his first final in Russia, became the fifth active player to reach five consecutive finals, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who accomplished the feat last year (Cincinnati, US Open, Shanghai, Paris, Nitto ATP Finals). Medvedev will now try to win his third ATP Tour title of the season (Sofia, Cincinnati) on Sunday against Croatian Borna Coric, who beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 to make his first ATP Tour final of 2019.
“I’m extremely happy to be in my first final in my home country,” Medvedev said. “I came here to try to win the tournament, that’s what I’m doing… I’m looking forward to [the final]. Tough opponent, and hopefully a great fight tomorrow.”
Coric leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-1, including their past three meetings and has won their past seven sets. The players also met at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in 2017, a matchup Coric won in four sets.
Read More: Why Medvedev’s Momentum Looks Set To Continue Indoors
Medvedev has now won 23 of his past 26 matches, a stretch that includes the four consecutive finals he made during the North American hard-court swing in Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati and at the US Open. Less than two weeks ago, on 8 September, Medvedev pushed World No. 2 Rafael Nadal to a classic five-set final in Flushing Meadows.
On Sunday, he’ll be back in another final, trying to become the first Russian to win the St. Petersburg Open title since Mikhail Youzhny in 2004.
