Daniil Medvedev advanced to the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals. The Russian third seed controlled the match from the baseline, improving his head-to-head record against the Canadian to 8-2. Medvedev will face Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday after the Dutchman upset Andrey Rublev.
Daniil Medvedev secured his place in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday with a straight-sets 6-4, 6-2 win over top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. The match lasted 82 minutes, during which Medvedev won 88 percent of his first-serve points and broke Auger-Aliassime's serve three times. He sealed the victory with a backhand winner on match point.
Medvedev, the 2023 champion in Dubai, has now won all four of his matches this week in straight sets, defeating Juncheng Shang, Stan Wawrinka, and Jenson Brooksby earlier. This marks his second final of the season after a title win in Brisbane in January, bringing his year-to-date record to 13-3. With 22 career tour-level titles, all at different events, Medvedev aims to repeat in Dubai for the first time. "It has been an amazing four matches, probably playing better and better each match, today being the best performance," Medvedev said. "If I can put an even better performance tomorrow, I will have my chances to win and that is what I am going to try to do."
Auger-Aliassime, who entered the semi-final with an 11-1 record in February and undefeated in sets through his first three matches, was bidding for a third consecutive tour-level final after winning in Montpellier and reaching the final in Rotterdam. The Canadian had won his previous two meetings with Medvedev but could not overcome the Russian's defensive play, winning only 36 of 64 points on his serve.
In the other semi-final, Tallon Griekspoor defeated 2022 champion Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6(6) in one hour and 41 minutes. Griekspoor saved two set points in the tie-break and fended off all six break points faced. The World No. 25 has now beaten three Top 20 players in a row—Alexander Bublik, Jakub Mensik, and Rublev—marking the first time a Dutch player has reached the Dubai final. Griekspoor leads Medvedev 1-0 in their head-to-head, from last year's tournament.