Djokovic v Medvedev Saturday In Astana; Kyrgios Withdraws From Tokyo With Knee Injury

The super semifinal showdown in Astana between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev was set on Friday.

Djokovic won his 14th straight at tournament level cruising last Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-3 to reach his sixth semifinal of the season.

“I didn’t play as well from the baseline as I did in the first two matches, but still it was enough,” said Djokovic. “I managed to produce some good tennis when it was the most needed in both sets.”

Khachanov has lot his last 20 against Top 20 opponents.

Medvedev set the meeting crushing Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-1.

“I am happy to play the right game, to be really solid and to do everything I can to make his life difficult and I am really happy to beat him,” Medvedev told the crowd. “I tried to mix it up as it is not easy to play against Roberto. I tried to mix it up and surprise him a little bit and it worked very well.”

Djokovic has won six of 10 against Medvedev but the two haven’t met this year.

“I am really happy to play against Novak,” Medvedev said. “I thought about it before the match and we have only played one tournament together this year, which was Roland Garros. This is the second one and we meet again and I am really happy.”

In the other semifinal, Andrey Rublev will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas topped Hubert Hurkacz while Rublev eliminated Adrian Mannarino, both in straight sets.

In Tokyo, the semifinals will see Soonwoo Kwon against Frances Tiafoe and then it’s Taylor Fritz facing Denis Shapovalov.

Fritz got a walkover in his quarterfinal from Nick Kyrgios who withdrew with a left knee injury.

“It’s obviously very disappointing,” said the former champion Kyrgios. “It’s one of my favorite tournaments. I’ve had great memories here.

“It’s heartbreaking, but I’ll be here next year. That’s for sure.

“I’ve been playing amazing tennis all year and actually was dealing with a bit of a knee issue around the US Open time,” he said. “I got back home and probably didn’t take enough time off, to be honest. I went straight back into training.”