Number one Daniil Medvedev committed 11 double fouls when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (June 8), 3-6, 6-3 in the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters semi-finals on Sunday.
Medvedev helped determine his fate in the sixth game of the final set when he double fouled four times to give the Greeks a 4-2 lead.
Tsitsipas will compete for the title on Sunday against Croatian Borna Coric, who returned to the ATP Masters final for the first time in four years by beating England’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 .
Tsitsipas won only his third match against Medvedev after losing seven and also beat a defending number one for the second time in 12 career tries.
The fourth seed put a winner in the corner of the first match by three points to advance to the final.
“I knew I was going to have a tough task in the third set,” said Tsitsipas. “He turned it into a very physical, very demanding game.
“But I took advantage of his missed first serves. They gave me time to think clearly about my next move. I was very calm and focused on every task.”
World number 152 Coric, who missed a year of competition because of a shoulder problem and only returned to the tournament in March, went deep for 91 minutes in a match that was delayed for hours by an afternoon. rain.
“It was a long day. I didn’t expect to be playing in the evening,” Coric said. “It was a crazy day but it ended very well.”
Coric is the second most underrated finalist since the rankings began in 1973, with number 191 Andrei Pavel setting that standard when he played for the 2003 Roland Garros title.
Coric overcame a slow start by 14 unforced errors in the first six games, settling to elevate his tennis.
The Croat, who lost in the Masters final in Shanghai in 2018 to Novak Djokovic, capped Norrie with nine winners while hitting over 17 along with 24 non-mandatory errors.
“I played extremely well, but from the beginning I wasn’t there,” said Coric. “Then I found my rhythm and started serving better. That’s the key to the game. “
