Miami Gardens, Florida –
Daniil Medvedev has not won a title in the United States since the 2021 US Open when he turned down Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar year Grand Slam.
With that, the Miami Open’s No. 4 seed secured a win from a new American title by beating fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3 in Friday’s semifinals. On the same day, Wimbledon announced that it would allow the Russians to compete. Conditional to return.
The other men’s semi-final will take place on Friday night between Carlos Alcaraz and Yannik Sinar. A win for Alcaraz would set up a rematch of the Indian Wells final. Alcaraz beat Medvedev on March 19, where he scored 6-3, 6-2.
Also on Friday, No. 15 seed Petra Kvitova defeated unseeded Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-3 in the second women’s semifinal. Kvitova will face Elena Rybakina in the final.
Medvedev has won 23 of his last 24 matches, lost only once to current world No. 1 Alcaraz, and has reached five consecutive finals.
Medvedev has been childhood friends with the 14th-seeded Khachanov, both fierce baseliners, taking 31 shots in a single rally.
Medvedev needed a tiebreaker to win the first set. Khachanov, who proved a little more consistent in the second set, forced a third set by breaking Medvedev’s serve early to take a 2-0 lead.
But Medvedev owned the third and survived an early break point when Khachanov hit a loose backhand into the doubles alley and made a rare unforced error.
Medvedev defeated Khachanov in the next game to take a 3-1 lead and won a staggering 26-shot rally on match point. Khachanov picked up the drop his shot and retrieved it from the baseline between the legs before his friend put away the winner.
In the women’s match, the lefty Kvitova recovered from a 5-3 hole in the first set and was happy to pull back after facing two set points at 15-40. She went on her sixth straight win in all, taking the first set and breaking, and in the second she went 2-0.
Rybakina, who won 13 straight wins, including last week’s Indian Wells title, defeated Jessica Pegula in straight sets in a rain postponed match that ended late Thursday night.
