Daniil Medvedev’s defiant defence shut down the high-powered challenge of Jannik Sinner on Friday at the Erste Bank Open, where the 26-year-old secured a clinical 6-4, 6-2 quarter-final triumph.

Medvedev’s persistence proved decisive in an engrossing 91-minute encounter in Austria. Sinner threw a barrage of heavy groundstrokes at his opponent but was unable to regularly hit through the top seed. Medvedev did not face a break point in the match and converted three of six break points of his own as he improved his ATP Head2Head series record against the Italian to 4-0.

“Jannik is a top player, and he can pose problems to anybody basically,” said Medvedev after the match. “The last two Grand Slams, he played five sets with the [eventual] winner, so Jannik is a top player and I’m really happy today with my performance.

“I served amazingly well, I almost didn’t do any unforced errors, I was solid behind the baseline. Everything was working well today and I’m really happy about it.”

From downtown 🤯@DaniilMedwed with a return from wayyyy back!#ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/BpidvBBnvy

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 28, 2022

With the win, Medvedev improved to 32-10 on hard courts in 2022. Medvedev, who can seal his spot at November’s Nitto ATP Finals by lifting the trophy in Vienna, was pleased to have backed up his semi-final run in Astana three weeks ago by reaching the same stage in the Austrian capital for the first time.

“In general the way I played today against Jannik is the same as in Astana,” said the top seed. “I’m really happy, I have been looking for this level for a long, long time. It’s the level where I can win the biggest tournaments on Tour and I hope I can bring it to two more matches.”

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The only man in the singles draw yet to drop serve this week in Vienna, Medvedev will next meet Grigor Dimitrov as he chases his second tour-level title of the season. The Bulgarian earlier held off Marcos Giron for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 quarter-final victory.

Medvedev leads Dimitrov 3-2 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series, but the Bulgarian won the last meeting between the two in Indian Wells in 2021.

“Grigor is the same [as Sinner], he is a top player, he can beat anybody,” said Medvedev. “He was a Top Three player, making semis of Slams. Maybe more up and down this year, but when he is up he is amazing, so I just have to play my best tennis from my side and that’s how I can have the chance to win.”

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In the bottom half of the draw, Borna Coric held his nerve in a deciding-set tie-break for the second consecutive day in Vienna as he prevailed 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) against Hubert Hurkacz in a thrilling quarter-final clash.

Barely 24 hours after he rallied to a stunning second-round win against second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coric withstood a huge serving performance from Hurkacz (that included 28 aces) to reach the semi-finals for the first time on his fourth appearance in Vienna. The Croatian saved all four break points he faced in his two-hour, 53-minute triumph.

“I don’t know [how I won], to be honest,” said Coric after the match. “He was serving absolute bombs, I’ve never seen that in my life. I was just hanging in there, focusing on my serve and trying to stay positive, because that’s the only thing that I could do, and then hope that in the tie-break I could make some returns.”

Cincinnati champion Coric will take on Denis Shapovalov, a 6-3, 6-3 winner against Daniel Evans, in the semi-finals as he aims to reach his second tour-level final of 2022.

Hurkacz’s defeat represents a blow to the Pole’s hopes of qualifying for November’s Nitto ATP Finals. The 25-year-old is in ninth position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as he heads to next week’s Rolex Paris Masters, where he will likely require a deep run to have a chance of sealing a spot at the season finale for the second time.

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