Daniil Medvedev marches into the Vienna final | ATP Tour | tennis

Daniil Medvedev met a sovereign opponent for the second time in a row at the Erste Bank Open on Saturday, who hit the ball clean. The top seed had all the answers.

Medvedev defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the ATP 500 event. As he did against Jannik Sinner in Friday’s quarter-finals, the 26-year-old proved the difference with his relentless comeback and precise serve as he reached the league game in Vienna for the first time with an 85-minute win.

“It was a great game,” said Medvedev. “There were a few moments in the game where I thought I should have done a little better, taken the lead earlier and tried to build pressure earlier. Then I managed to remain constant and to increase my level in the most important points. That was enough today and I’m very happy with my level.”

Dimitrov was very successful en route to the semi-finals in Vienna, where he was particularly impressive when he defeated third-seeded Andrey Rublev in the second round. But despite scoring 21 winners from Medvedev’s 17 goals, he failed to penetrate the top seed’s defense often enough to gain a foothold in the game.

Just like his previous victories over Nikoloz Basilashvili, Dominic Thiem and Sinner this week, Medvedev was selected on serve against Dimitrov. He won 87 percent (27/31) points behind his first delivery to improve his ATP Head2Head series record against the Bulgarian to 4-2.

“The serve is probably the most important shot in tennis,” Medvedev said. “I missed it a bit this season, I made too many double faults. Sometimes my serve could have been a bit better in important moments. I worked a lot with my coach to try to find that rhythm [again], and so far I’m doing good service here. I’m very happy about it and that’s why I play so well.”

Medvedev, who is yet to serve in four games in Vienna this week, meets Denis Shapovalov in Sunday’s final, who is chasing his second tour-level title of the season. The Canadian also won the semifinals in straight sets, defeating Borna Coric 7-6(4), 6-0.

Shapovalov beat Coric in a hard-fought, break-point opener by raising his level in the tie-break, and Coric had no response to the Canadian’s big strike in the second set. Shapovalov stormed into his second tour-level championship game of the season after recording 26 wins and converting three of his four break point opportunities.

“I’m just happy to be in another final this season, beating some top guys and great players,” Shapovalov said after the game. “I’m very happy with my performances this week and today was another great match. Obviously Borna plays great tennis, he beat some great players this week so I’m very happy to win today and very happy with my game.”

After winning his first two ATP Head2Head meetings with Medvedev, Shapovalov has suffered two straight-set losses in the last three tour-level clashes between the two. The Canadian is aware of the challenge he faces in Sunday’s championship game against the in-form top seed but is still confident as he bids for his second ATP Tour title.

“It’s super tough,” said the Canadian. “I’ve struggled against him in the last few games we’ve played. He is an extremely difficult opponent to play against. He bothers a lot of guys so it’s going to be a tough matchup, [but] I have confidence, I think I play really good tennis. I’ll take it to him and fight my heart out.”