Tennis: Daniil Medvedev eliminates Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals in Dubai !!

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World number 1 Novak Djokovic, who was returning to competition after his victory at the Australian Open, was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Dubai ATP tournament on Friday March 3, 2023. Russian Daniil Medvedev authoritatively dismissed the Serbian after a strong match (6-4, 6-4). 

It's a small sensation that has just hit the tennis planet in Dubai, this Friday, March 3, 2023. World number 1 Novak Djokovic was eliminated by Russian Daniil Medvedev (6-4, 6-4), 7th in the world. Returning to competition after his victory at the Australian Open, the Serb was dismissed in two short sets, for his first defeat in 2023!! 

In the duel of the hard to beat, it was Daniil Medvedev who proved to be the strongest to win his thirteenth consecutive victory, this Friday in the semi-finals of the ATP 500 in Dubai against a hitherto undefeated Novak Djokovic in 2023. This big victory for the Russian confirms his return to the highest level. It is thanks to his confidence, the heaviness of his shots from the baseline and his incredible consistency in the rallies that he was able to win against the world No. 1 against whom he had lost the last four meetings. 

The Serb, he struggled to find the right tactic against the Russian. By rising a lot, especially on serve and volley, he first wanted to shorten the exchanges so as not to enter the preferential sector of his opponent. But this way of not accepting the fight finally served him when it came to restoring intensity against this devil of Medvedev stainless from the bottom. 

By rushing, and getting annoyed over the games, the Serb made many approximations (10 unforced errors in the forehand in the first set), while the Russian was the best when the rallies dragged on. In the first set, Djokovic offered his face-off twice, one of which at 4-2 on a game harvested by a horrible smash and two badly negotiated service-volleys. 

Broken from the start of the second set, Djokovic was unable to catch up, despite his application on the return, not even managing to get any break point in this round. After his 21 points in a row the day before (!) to eliminate Coric, Medvedev offers himself the scalp of the world No. first ball). He will be opposed in the final to his compatriot Andrey Rublev, who won their last two heads-up!! 

"Every time I beat Novak I get an amazing feeling. He's probably the greatest tennis player of all time," Medvedev said. "

Medvedev will face in the final on Saturday his compatriot Andrey Rublev, earlier scorer of the German Alexander Zverev in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 (11-9), for the first time !!