Medvedev Marches Past Otte To Halle Final

Daniil Medvedev’s impressive grass-court form continued on Saturday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where the top seed powered past home favourite Oscar Otte to reach his second consecutive ATP Tour final.

The World No. 1 fended off a set point in the opening set before rallying to a 7-6(3), 6-3 semi-final victory in his first ATP Head2Head meeting with World No. 51 Otte. It is a second tour-level final for Medvedev in as many weeks on the grass, after he appeared in the championship match at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch just six days ago.

Last year in Halle, Medevedev fell in the first round to another German, Jan-Lennard Struff, on tournament debut. Since that defeat, the World No. 1 is 14-2 on grass, a tally which includes a title run at the 2021 Mallorca Championships.

“I didn’t play well in Halle last year, so I’m happy that this year I managed to raise my level,” said Medvedev after his semi-final victory. “As I’ve always said, I love playing on grass, so I’m happy to show to myself that I’m capable of being in the final of one of the greatest tournaments, especially on grass, and of course I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

In Sunday’s final, Medvedev will face fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz, who clawed past wild card Nick Kyrgios in the second semi-final of the day.

^{Photo Credit: ATP}
Medvedev had saved all 17 break points he faced across his opening three matches in Halle this week, and he was under pressure early again after a fast start from Otte on OWL Arena. The World No. 1 once again found accuracy and power in his delivery to fend off two break points in the second and fourth games of the match, but his streak was finally ended after 22 consecutive break points saved when Otte’s aggressive play earned a break for 5-3.

The excited home crowd sensed another upset from World No. 51 Otte, who had already beaten Top 30 players Miomir Kecmanovic, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Karen Khachanov en route to the semi-finals on tournament debut in Halle. The nerves began to show for the German as he served for the set, however. A double-fault on set point at 40/30 proved costly as Medvedev held firm to reclaim the break before completing the turnaround with five points in a row from 2/3 in the tie-break.

Taking the lead appeared to free up the Medevedev game, and the 26-year-old was dominant in the second set as he began to find rhythm with his groundstrokes. The World No. 1 wrapped up a one-hour, 37-minute victory behind a break in the sixth game that was backed up by more relentlessly powerful serving.

“I was not playing good enough in the beginning of the match,” said Medvedev when asked about how his level had improved over the course of the match. “I was missing too many shots. The serve was actually not that bad, but I was missing way too many shots.

“I managed to change it by the end of the first set, especially in the tie-break. That’s when I started to miss less, play more aggressive and get depth on my ball. Second set I just continued throughout, and it was enough to break him one time and get the second set.”

Despite his run in Halle coming to an end, Otte will be pleased with his performance this week in his homeland. The 28-year-old has now reached three tour-level semi-finals in 2022, and his latest run lifts him to No. 37 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.