Daniil Medvedev has been a fan of Cincinnati for many years and his first ever ATP 1000 trophy came on these courts.
It happened in 2019 and it saw him bat the likes of Djokovic en route to the trophy. Now he'll play for another final here and it comes after he defeated native
Taylor Fritz in straight sets. The match itself was a wobbly one for Medvedev as he faced tough opposition for the most of it:
“Cincinnati fast courts and fast balls and I have always liked it. But always tricky matches, especially between two great servers. I feel like me and Taylor served good, even if we aren’t John [Isner] maybe! I knew that it was going to be a tight match."
Medvedev admitted that Fritz was probably better in the opening set:
“The first set he was on top of me a little bit. He had many more chances than I did on my serve, but I managed to stay in. There were some set points where I could have missed and no one would have talked about it, it would have been normal. But I managed to stay in the set and that helped me win the match.”
The match completely shifted in the tiebreak where Medvedev dominated. He now holds a 20-6 record in the tiebreak at 1000 event's and he's proud of it:
“That is great because tie-breaks are a fine thing. We call it a
lottery and I do think it is this way a little bit. I remember when I
had the crazy run in 2019. I think someone told me once that I won a lot
of tie-breaks in a row. I don’t know if it was eight
or 12, so I was like, 'That is cool.' I just try to do my best and win
every point. You win some and lose some. But 20-6 is a good record, so I
am happy about it.”