Alex De Minaur upset Danil Medvedev 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal at the National Bank Open in Toronto.
De Minaur had lost four of his previous five matches against Medvedev.
De Minaur showed his fighthing spirit for the second consecutive day when he came back from 2-5 in the first set, saving three set points in the tie-break before closing out the tie-break 7-5. The Australian player had fought back from 1-5 down in the first set in his third round match against Taylor Fritz.
Medvedev served for the first set at 5-3, but he made a double fault on a double-break point, but De Minaur held serve. Medvedev raced out to an early lead in the tie-break and won a long rally to take a 5-1 lead. De Minaur saved three points, including one on a double fault, before taking a 8-7 lead. De Minaur converted on his first set point when Medvedev sent his shot long.
De Minaur rallied from a break down twice in the second set and claimed the win on his second match point as Medvedev made his seventh double fault.
Medvedev, who won the Toronto title in 2021, lost the fourth hard-fought hard-fought match of the season.
De Minaur clinched the title in Acapulco and lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of Los Cabos last week.
“I had to play some of my best tennis today. It has been a great week for me so far. I played the right way today. I think having played him at the end of last year gave me the confidence that I had the chance”, said De Minaur.
De Minaur set up a semifinal match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-4 6-2. Davidovich Fokina converted five of nine break points to claim the win on his third match point.
McDonald earned an early break in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Davidovich Fokina broke straight back in the third game and held serve to draw level to 2-2. Davidovich Fokina saved a break point in the eighth game before breaking serve in the ninth game to win the second set 6-4. Davidovich Fokina went up a 3-0 lead with two breaks. McDonald pulled back one of the two breaks back on his fifth opportunity. Davidovich Fokina broke for the third time in the fifth game and held his next two service games to seal the second set 6-2.
“To beat the top players is giving me a lot of confidence. I just want to step on court and play my best and enjoy every point and every moment”, said Davidovich Fokina.
