Fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev powered his way into his fifth consecutive final by smacking 13 aces during a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Karen Khachanov on Friday in the semifinals of the Miami Open.
It is the second-longest such streak of Medvedev’s career, topped by reaching six straight finals in 2019.
“I have some margin,” Medvedev said after winning for the 23rd time in his past 24 matches. “It is a pity it is clay season after (this tourney), but I am going to try. I am really happy with my results so far but it is not over. Final on Sunday and I have to be at my best to try to win it.”
Medvedev will face either top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or 10th-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy in the final. Those two men square off Friday night.
Medvedev’s lone loss during the hot streak was against Alcaraz in the final at Indian Wells.
“I know I am capable of winning big titles,” Medvedev said. “I know I can play well and beat anybody. Carlos is on fire right now but you can’t win 100 matches in a row. At one moment someone is going to put the water on the fire.”
Medvedev recorded 37 winners against 21 unforced errors while receiving a battle from the 14th-seeded Khachanov before prevailing in two hours and 17 minutes.
Medvedev needed to win a tiebreaker to take the first set and Khachanov bounced back with a 3-0 start in the second set en route to evening the match.
Medvedev won three straight games to take a 4-1 lead in the final set and cruised from there, improving to 4-1 all-time against Khachanov.
“I managed to play well,” Medvedev said. “He had one bad game in the third set, I managed to take it and I am really happy to be through. It was a very tough match.”
Khachanov delivered 53 winners against just 11 unforced errors. He had seven aces.
–Field Level Media
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