Novak Djokovic booked his place in the Astana Open final in Kazakhstan where he will face Stefanos Tsitsipas after Daniil Medvedev retired injured with the semi-final level at one set apiece 4-6 7-6 (8-6).
Having won the opening set 6-4, Russia’s Medvedev carved out match point in the second set, only to go on to lose it in a tie-break to Djokovic.
Medvedev then surprisingly retired injured from the clash before the third set could begin, allowing Djokovic to progress to the final.
“He [Medvedev] told me he pulled an adductor in his leg,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview.
“I know Daniil, he’s a great guy, he’s a fighter, he’s a big competitor. He wouldn’t retire a match if he didn’t feel that he [could] continue or [if it wouldn’t] worsen his injury.
Verstappen keeps pole, has title chance, after reprimand for Norris near-miss
Verstappen escapes penalty: Lando’s accusation and Max’s defence
World Cup 2022 schedule, teams and draw
UKAD stays silent over Benn investigation claims
Transfer Centre LIVE! Rodgers unsure on Maddison contract progress
Papers: Ronaldo dismayed at stubborn Ten Hag’s training and tactics
Shields: Marshall loss put a different kind of fire in me
PL Predictions: Leicester to continue rise, Brighton to hold Spurs
“It was such a close match, particularly in the second set. I would probably say he was a better player on the court in both sets. I was fighting and trying to find a way.
“I found a way to win the second, but I’m just sad for the tournament and for these people who were enjoying the battle, and for Daniil that it had to end this way.”
Djokovic will now aim to seal back-to-back titles in Sunday’s final against Tsitsipas, who was a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner against Andrey Rublev. The Serbian, who lifted his 89th tour-level crown in Tel Aviv last week, leads Tsitsipas 7-2 in their ATP head-to-heads.
“It’s the second time in my life I retired like this with a pulled muscle,” Medvedev explained. “So here, on the second point of the tie-break, I felt a little strange pop in my adductor. I first thought maybe it’s a cramp and after the point I was like: ‘No, probably not a cramp.’
“And during the tie-break, I felt I can play like five, 10 more points but that’s it. If I play one more set, you can do it, but you can probably miss half a year instead of one month.”
The battle between the second and fourth seeds saw three consecutive breaks of serve in the first set, two of them belonging to Medvedev, who converted his only two break opportunities. Serving at 5-4 he raced out to 40/0 and took the set on his second opportunity.
There were no breaks of serve in the second set and so it came down to a tie-break. Medvedev won the first point, then Djokovic employed the drop shot on four consecutive points – and won them all. Ultimately, he won the tie-break on yet another drop shot when Medvedev’s forehand lob sailed long.
The match was Djokovic and Medvedev’s first meeting of 2022 – and only the second event where they were in the same draw, after Roland Garros.
It was also Djokovic’s first match against a top 10 player on a hard court since the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, where he fell to Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. Medvedev, meanwhile, was seeking his first indoor hard-court final since that same event.