Stefanos Tsitsipas described his tactics to beat Daniil Medvedev as “courageous” as he reached the final of the Cincinnati Open.
The Greek fourth seed defeated the world No. 1 7-6(6) 3-6 6-3 by rushing to the net and attempting to nullify his opponent’s ability to play from deep on the court.
Speaking after the win – his third against Medvedev in 10 meetings – Tsitsipas explained: “There were some difficult shots I had to play a bit more.
“A few short balls I really took advantage of and came in. A lot of courageous serve-and-volleys, approaches to the net that definitely gave me that great win today.”
While Tsitsipas won the opening and decisive sets, in the middle section he was 5-0 down as he struggled with his service game, including a string of double faults, and a brief rally could only take him to lose it 6-3.
“I knew I had to sign up for a difficult task, third set, it wasn’t going to be easy,” Tsitsipas continued. “He made it very physical and really demanding for me.
“I just took advantage of some of his missed first serves. I think I had a couple opportunities where it seemed to be going towards my side.
“He kept missing a lot of first serves consecutively, and that gave me some time to think of my next move a little bit clearer.
“He gave me a double fault on break point, which I think was very important moment for me psychologically to give my best shot. I was a few games away and I was very calm and concentrated in every single task that was given to me.”
Tsitsipas will face Borna Coric, who defeated Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 in the day’s other semi-final, in the tournament showpiece.
