Tallon Griekspoor flabbergasted top-seed Daniil Medvedev in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on Thursday. The Dutchman registered a 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 victory against the Russian to reach the semi-finals at the ATP 500.
Griekspoor saved four match points in the second set after he was 4-5, 15-40 down. The Dutchman was able to take the second set to a tiebreaker and took the final set by 7-5.
Griekspoor was delighted with a big win against Medvedev.
“I’m super happy with this win,” said Griekspoor. “I had to fight off a couple of match points in the second set… Daniil is an unbelievable player, an unbelievable competitor. He’s been at the top of the rankings for so many years, so I’m very pleased with this win.
”I thought he played so well in the first set. I didn’t do badly, he was just too good. I just tried to stay tough with it, even though I went a break down in the second. When I broke him back, I felt like the momentum went a little bit my way. I was a little bit lucky on the match points down, and in the second-set tie-break. I even needed a few match points myself to finish this one off.”
On the other hand, Stefanos Tsitsipas registered a hard-fought 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4 win over Matteo Berrettini to reach his first semi-final since July last year.
“It’s a great feeling being back so deep in tournaments,” said Tsitsipas, who is now 13-3 in Dubai. “It brings a smile on my face knowing I’ve played good tennis so far to get to this point. There were a lot of ups and downs… The first set was a great effort, but I didn’t deliver in the second. But it’s confusing how I found myself winning at the end, because I felt like I was going through some mental battles during that match.”
Griekspoor will take on Tsitsipas in the semifinal clash on Friday.
