Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev advanced to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final after defeating top-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 during Friday’s semifinal match in the United Arab Emirates.
The third-seeded Medvedev will face off against Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands, who defeated fifth-seeded Russian player Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6 (6) in the tournament’s other semifinal contest.
With a career record of 22-19 in professional tennis finals, Medvedev previously claimed the 2023 Dubai championship by beating Rublev. The Russian has an unusual career statistic he hopes to change on Saturday – he has never captured the same tournament twice.
Medvedev’s serving performance proved decisive against the Canadian Auger-Aliassime, connecting on 88% of his first serves while preventing his opponent from earning any break point opportunities.
Griekspoor brings a 3-2 career finals record into Saturday’s match, having gone 1-1 in championship matches during 2024. The Dutch player secured the opening set with the match’s lone service break, then fought off two set points against Rublev in the second-set tiebreaker by claiming the final four points.
In other tennis action at the BCI Seguros Chile Open, two Argentine players advanced with straight-set quarterfinal victories in Santiago.
Top-seeded Francisco Cerundolo dispatched American Emilio Nava 6-1, 6-1 in just 66 minutes, while third-seeded Sebastian Baez knocked out the tournament’s final Chilean competitor, eighth-seeded Alejandro Tabilo, 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Cerundolo’s semifinal matchup will be against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, who mounted a comeback victory over Lithuanian lucky loser Vilius Gaubas 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Baez will square off with second-seeded Luciano Darderi, who prevailed in an all-Italian quarterfinal against qualifier Andrea Pellegrino 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
At the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico, fifth-seeded Italian Flavio Cobolli is positioned to capture his third professional tour title, with all three coming within the past 12 months.
Cobolli outlasted Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4 in their semifinal encounter. The Italian held a 36-26 advantage in winners, including a 13-7 edge in aces, while committing just one fewer unforced error than Kecmanovic (37-36).
Cobolli awaits the winner of Friday’s late semifinal between eighth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima in an all-American showdown.
