Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will clash in the semi-finals of the Italian Open in Rome.
Both eased through their quarter-finals on Thursday, with third seed Medvedev, who had never won a match at the Foro Italico prior to the start of the tournament, ending the run of qualifier Yannick Hanfmann with a 6-2 6-2 victory.
“I remember sitting here before the tournament and saying how good I felt in practice,” the Russian told reporters in the Italian capital.
Daniil means ???????? ??
No. 3 seed @DaniilMedwed races into the last four in Rome for the first time in his career!@InteBNLdItalia | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/mCujU4Dc2m
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 18, 2023
“It’s always tricky because then you can lose first round against a great opponent and you’re going to be like, ‘Yeah, well, why did I say this? Better shut up.’ That’s how I felt. I’m happy I managed to transfer this onto the tennis court.”
Tsitsipas had to wait until the night session to take on Borna Coric, and the Greek produced a fine display to see off the 15th seed 6-3 6-4.
It will be a 12th meeting between regular rivals Tsitsipas and Medvedev. Medvedev leads 7-4 but Tsitsipas has won the last two and also beat the Russian at the French Open two years ago.
