Danil Medvedev beat French qualifier Hugo Gaston 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 to reach the semifinal at the Paris Rolex Masters in Paris Bercy.
Gaston earned a break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead after a double fault from Medvedev. The Russian player saved three consecutive set points on Gaston’s serve to force a tie-break. The next two games went on serve. Gaston fended off a set point with a backhand winner before Medvedev sealed the first set with a service winner.
Medvedev raced out to a 4-0 lead with a double break in the second set. Gaston pulled one break back in the sixth game and held his serve to win the next three games for 3-4. Medvedev held serve for 5-3 with two aces. Gaston served to stay in the match. Medvedev made a double fault on match point, but he converted his second chance with a crosscourt forehand winner.
“It was a good match with some great points. When the atmosphere is against you, you need to face it. You need to try to win no matter what. Even when it is against me, I think ‘Well, I will try to beat my opponent and the crowd, because there is no other choice. I am kind of happy about myself, but it was definitely a high-level match”, said Medvedev.
Earlier this week Medvedev did not convert three set points in the first set in the opening match against Ilya Ivashka before winning in straight sets before recovering from one set down to beat Sebastian Korda in the third round.
Medvedev won four ATP titles this year in Marseille, Mallorca, Toronto Masters 1000 and at the US Open.
