Daniil Medvedev's impressive grass form continued 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 meeting against Otte. Medvedev anticipated a very tough match as they practiced this week and that practice match finished in the tiebreak.
Speaking after the match, he said:
“I didn’t play well in Halle last year, so I’m happy that this year I managed to raise my level. 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.”
Touching upon the match specifically, he added:
“I was not playing good enough in the beginning 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.”