Alcaraz beats Medvedev, heads to finals

BEIJING: Carlos Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev in back to back sets on Tuesday, sending himself to the China Open final.

The world number three will play the winner of Jannik Sinner and Yunchaokete Bu, who play their semi final match later today. The final is set for Wednesday.

FIRST SET

It was Alcaraz who got the first break in the fifth game of the first set. On his 3^rd break point, Medvedev failed to return a backhand from the Spaniard, sending the ball straight into the net. But he didn’t stay sullen for long, immediately getting a break of his own in the very next game after Alcaraz failed to return a forehand, launching the ball into the air.

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Medvedev failed to capitalise in the next game, as Alcaraz didn’t allow him a single point. His powerful shots were to much for Medvedev to handle. And when the Russian did manage to withstand the assault, Alcaraz slowed the pace down, sending a drop shot to the net to draw him in before hitting the ball deep.

The back and forth affair continued in the next game, with Medvedev once again getting his own break right back. Alcaraz struggled to land the ball in bounds, sending it just beyond the baseline a couple of times, before hitting it into the net to lose the game.

The Spaniard would then win three straight to take the set. He employed the drop shot again in the ninth game to disrupt Medvedev’s rhythm once more. In the next game he would get another break, after Medvedev failed to return what looked to be an easy slam, hitting the ball well out of bounds. Alcaraz would settle the set with a serve that Medvedev wasn’t able to return.

SECOND SET

Once again, it was Alcaraz with the first break of the set, after a well contested point ricocheted off the top of the net and past Medvedev. Alcaraz would waste no time in the next game, winning in four straight points.

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The world number three and world number five would both win their next respective games. The score was five games to three, heading in to what would be the final few points of the match. The Russian did his best to hold the Spaniard off, denying his first three match points. Alcaraz failed to return a forehand in his first, but the next two were incredible serves by Medvedev, that Spaniard had no hope of returning.

Unfortunately, it was a double fourth that gave Alcaraz his fourth and final match point. An emphatic forehand placed right on the sideline denied Medvedev a ticket to the final.