Medvedev Takes Down Tiafoe To Reach Maiden Indian Wells Final
Daniil Medvedev added a slightly more straightforward chapter to his rollercoaster 2023 BNP Paribas Open story on Saturday, when he eased past Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 7-6(4) to reach his maiden final at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Aside from some late struggles to serve out the match in Indian Wells, the fifth seed delivered a high-class all-around semi-final display to extend his winning streak to 19 matches. Having so far claimed ATP Tour titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai during his run, the former World No. 1 is now within one match of becoming the first man to win four titles in five weeks since Andy Murray in 2016.
As he has been throughout his red-hot run, Medvedev was relentless from the baseline throughout the one-hour, 47-minute clash. Yet he also sprinkled into his performance a series of magical moments that left an at-times exasperated Tiafoe — himself one of the biggest crowd-pleasers on Tour — with few chances to counter.
Medvedev rolled his ankle in his fourth-round victory against Alexander Zverev and then cut his thumb badly in his quarter-final win against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. After overcoming those challenges and then defeating Tiafoe, he booked a championship match appointment with second seed Carlos Alcaraz or 11th seed Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s championship match. The 27-year-old is chasing his fifth Masters 1000 crown this fortnight in California, and his first since 2021.
More to follow…
