VIENNA: Daniil Medvedev earned a personal-best 64th tour-level win of the season when he defeated long-term rival Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6(6) to reach the Vienna Open final for the second consecutive year.
Medvedev committed just 10 unforced errors and saved all three break points he faced to reach his 36th tour-level final and ninth of the season after one hour and 44 minutes on Saturday, ATP Tour reports.
The 27-year-old, who improved to 9-4 in his ATP Head2Head series against the Greek, has now recorded the most victories on Tour in 2023, surpassing Carlos Alcaraz (63-9).
He will aim to clinch his 65th win and sixth title of the season when he meets Jannik Sinner or Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final.
If Medvedev successfully triumphs in Vienna, it will be his first successful title defence on the ATP Tour. He has won 20 tour-level singles crowns but has never won a single event more than once.
Medvedev is trying to win his third ATP 500 title of the year and third on hard courts, after clinching trophies in Rotterdam and Dubai. Earlier this week he survived three-set tests against Grigor Dimitrov and Karen Khachanov but looked close to his best against Tsitsipas.