Daniil Medvedev brands Indian Wells tie ‘scary’ after getting hit

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Daniil Medvedev told Frances Tiafoe that he found their Indian Wells match “scary” after winning 7-5 7-6(4). The world No 6 is now through to his first final in the Californian desert but had to fight to get there. Medvedev needed eight match points to close out the win and was hit by a ball after breaking in the first set.

Medvedev is through to the Indian Wells final to face either Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner after a tight two-set tussle with Tiafoe. The fifth seed looked to be cruising to victory at a set-and-a-break up but was dragged into a battle to escape the second set after blowing seven match points.

And he made his feelings known at the end of the one-hour-and-46-minute match, approaching the net to shake hands with Tiafoe and telling him: “That was scary.” Both men laughed as Medvedev complimented him for a good battle, adding: “What a fight man, what a fight.”

The 27-year-old was virtually in the final when he went 15-40 up on Tiafoe’s serve at 5-4 in the second set but blew three match points before stepping up to serve for the win himself. After failing to close it out in his opponent’s service game, the American broke to keep himself alive in the semi-final.

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The pair then traded breaks again with Tiafoe saving four more match points on his serve at 5-6 down and the second set went to a tiebreak. Medvedev raced to a 5-1 lead before Tiafoe closed the gap to 5-4 but the Russian refused to delay his victory any longer and closed out a 7-5 7-6(4) victory.

Medvedev also took a blow towards the end of the first set when he broke Tiafoe with a lucky let cord winner to serve for it at 6-5. As both men crossed paths at the net to return to their benches, the 25-year-old deliberately fired a ball at the fifth seed’s manhood in response.

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After the match, Medvedev admitted that he wished he got the job done earlier. “I really didn’t want to play the third set because it’s a whole set where I have to break the guy again and it’s tough like this,” he told Prime Video after the “scary” match.

“For sure if we talk 100 per cent honestly, I’m super disappointed and even frustrated with myself to not finish the match earlier. At the same time, that’s tennis. I’m really happy to be in the final, there is no time to go hard on yourself when there is a match tomorrow so really happy to manage not to lose this match,” he added.

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