London: Daniil Medvedev continued his improbable run of form at the Japan Open to reach the semifinals with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 upset over Milos Raonic in Tokyo on Friday.
Looking to break into the top 30 —Medvedev is currently two places off — the Russian’s power tennis seem to be ever on the upswing at this tournament, and there were little doubts against the Canadian as he reached the last four of an ATP 500 level tournament for the first time.
Matching game-for-game in the first set against sixth seed Raonic, Medvedev nullified his opponent’s big presence on the serve and 13 unforced errors to force a first-set tiebreak, and having gone 3-1 up never looked back.
Medvedev broke Raonic at 3-2 ahead in the second set, roaring towards his box in elation. In the end, Medvedev was simply the more clinical player, committing seven errors to the 28 chalked up by Raonic. Medvedev will now play Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. — dpa
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