Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov set up an all-Russian semifinal match with straight-set victories on Thursday at the Miami Open.
Medvedev reached his first Miami semifinal by defeating U.S. qualifier Christopher Eubanks 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinal round. Khachanov topped Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-3, 6-2.
The other semifinal will feature top-seeded and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who beat ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday, and 10th-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy, who won his quarterfinal match on Wednesday.
Medvedev, the fourth seed, had to wait out a rain delay that took hold five games into the first set, but he used the break to his benefit.
“I didn’t play my best before (the rain delay),” said Medvedev, who was down 2-3 when play was suspended. “The rain helped me go out and have more energy. It helped me and I only played better and better, apart from one bad game on my serve, but it happens.”
Medvedev now has won 22 of his past 23 matches and will be looking to reach his fifth straight tour final when he faces Khachanov. He won the titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai and lost to world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells.
Eubanks was sharp on the day, hitting 37 winners to just 10 unforced errors. But Medvedev broke his serve twice in the first set, after the rain delay, leading the Russian to five straight game wins and momentum heading into the second set.
For Khachanov, the win propelled him into the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time since 2019. The 14th seed, Khachanov dominated the match against Cerundolo, who entered the match with an 8-1 record in Miami. His only loss came in the semifinals in 2022.
But Khachanov needed just 75 minutes for the victory, winning points on 81 percent of his first serves. He hit 18 winners and had nine unforced errors, with Cerundolo tallying 19 and 22, respectively.
Khachanov will be vying to reach the finals and try to earn his fifth title — the first since he won in Paris five years ago. He will be facing a familiar opponent in Medvedev.
“We grew up together and every time I play against Daniil or Andrey (Rublev), it is not easy because we are good friends,” Khachanov said. “But on the court we are rivals. We played in Adelaide this year and he beat me pretty solid, so I will try to approach this match differently.”
Alcaraz moved within two victories of accomplishing the “Sunshine Double,” sweeping the consecutive hard-court events in Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami. Seven men have achieved the sweep: Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Rios (1998), Andre Agassi (2001), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014-16).
Alcaraz needed just 78 minutes to get past Fritz as he committed just one unforced error in the match. Fritz gave away 12 points, which offset his 22-19 edge in winners.
In the players’ first head-to-head meeting, Alcaraz got the only service break of the first set in the opening game, and he broke serve again to start the second set.
“A little bit of nerves at the beginning of the match,” Alcaraz said. “It was new for me, playing against him. I knew that I had to play my game, the way that I was playing the previous matches, a high level for me.
“Of course I’m very happy with the way I started the match, with no mistakes and with a lot of power. It was a key for me to break his serve at the beginning and then (play) my game.”
–Field Level Media
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