Camera collision prompts Medvedev meltdown and Rublev recovery in Cincy semis

Rublev
will
now
face
Alexander
Zverev
in
the
decider,
having
ended
Medvedev’s
bid
for
a
Toronto-Cincinnati
double.

Medvedev
had
never
even
dropped
a
set
to
his
fellow
Russian
in
four
prior
ATP
Tour
meetings
and
appeared
to
be
on
course
for
another
dominant
victory
when
he
took
the
first
set.

But
the
world
number
two
clattered
into
a
camera
early
in
the
second
and
all
momentum
was
soon
lost.

Medvedev
complained
about
the
positioning
of
the
camera,
claiming
it
had
caused
a
hand
injury
and
aiming
a
kick
at
the
lens.

He
swiftly
called
for
treatment
as
his
performance
started
to
fall
well
below
his
lofty
standards,
with
Rublev
finally
able
to
win
a
set
after
breaking
in
an
epic
15-minute
game.

A
series
of
unforced
Medvedev
errors
allowed
Rublev
to
break
again
in
the
decider
and
seal
a
stunning
2-6
6-3
6-3
triumph.

Third
seed
Zverev
fought
back
from
a
double
break
down
in
the
final
set
to
progress
to
the
final
with
a
6-4
3-6
7-6
(7-4)
win
over
second
seed
Stefanos
Tsitsipas.

The
epic
match
lasted
two
hours
and
41
minutes,
with
Zverev
responding
strongly
after
appearing
unwell
to
book
his
spot
in
the
final
against
Rublev.

Rublev
gets
his
Daniil
degree

Asked
to
reflect
on
finally
toppling
Medvedev,
Rublev
told
Amazon:
“It’s
always
tough
to
play
against
Daniil
and
to
beat
him.

“I
think
it
gives
me
a
bit
more
confidence
that
I
can
play
against
him,
I
can
compete
against
him.
There
are
still
so
many
things
to
improve,
but
it’s
like
I’ve
passed
university.”

The
victory
came
as
a
relief,
with
Rublev
believing
he
was
unfortunate
even
to
be
trailing
in
the
first
set.

“Inside
I
was
thinking,
when
I
was
6-2,
the
score
shouldn’t
be
like
this,”
he
said.

“The
points
were
really
tight,
some
little
outs,
little
mistakes,
some
good
shots
from
Daniil.
The
score
was
not
real
[in]
the
first
set.

“Even
the
third
set,
I
won
6-3
but
the
match
was
so
intense.
You
saw
so
many
rallies,
so
many
long
rallies,
and
it
was
so
tough.

“It
was
a
super
mental
match,
a
super
physical
match,
exactly
like
a
chess
match.”

Zverev’s
Novak
mentality

Tokyo
2020
gold
medalist
Zverev
had
trailed
4-1
in
the
third
set
against
Tsitsipas,
but
fought
back
with
two
breaks
before
winning
in
a
tie-break.

“After
I
did
the
first
break
back
I
thought
‘OK
I
have
the
chances’,”
Zverev
said
during
his
on-court
interview.
“I
felt
like
he
was
not
serving
bombs.
I
felt
like
I
was
always
in
the
rallies
but
I
was
losing
the
rallies
because
I
was
a
bit
low
energy,
so
I
started
being
a
bit
more
aggressive,
a
bit
of
the
Novak
mentality
that
I
had
against
him
at
the
Olympics
as
well.”

Zverev
has
a
4-0
record
against
final
opponent
Rublev
but
he
was
wary
of
his
opponent.

“Favourite
or
not,
I
think
if
you’re
in
the
final,
there’s
no
easy
opponent,”
he
said.
“Today
he
played
incredible
beating
Medvedev.”