'Better player' Medvedev into Marseille semi-finals / Photo: Paul Crock - AFP
'Better player' Medvedev into Marseille semi-finals
Daniil Medvedev reached his first semi-final of the year at the Marseille Open on Friday by defeating Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.
The former world number one from Russia came through 6-3, 6-2 in 78 minutes, saving five break points.
"I didn't start the match well, he had a lot of break points," said Medvedev, the 2021 champion in Marseille.
"I served good a couple of times. He made some mistakes. It's part of tennis. Then I managed to take control of the match and I feel like I was a little bit of a better player."
World number eight Medvedev has endured a disappointing start to the season, suffering second-round exits at the Australian Open and Rotterdam.
"I played two good matches here, I didn't lose my serve," added Medvedev who will face either Hamad Medjedovic or Daniel Altmaier for a place in Sunday's final.
Defending champion Ugo Humbert reached the semi-finals for the fourth time by seeing off Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4.
The second-seeded Frenchman committed 29 unforced errors before securing his 150th tour-level victory.
On Saturday, Humbert will take on Belgium's Zizou Bergs who made the semi-finals when China's Zhang Zhizhen was forced to retire after dropping the first set 7-5.
H.Kalantzis--AN-GR
