Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal of the Adelaide International on Saturday to set up a clash with Sebastian Korda of the United States in the final. The 35-year-old Serb thus stayed in contention for his 92nd career ATP title.
Djokovic was decidedly the superior player on the day, as Medvedev struggled to make him toil much. The 35-year-old Serb will start as the favourite in the final against Korda, who is 13 years his junior.
Two keys to Novak Djokovic’s win over Daniil Medvedev at the Adelaide International
#1. Djokovic served intelligently and once again hit his forehand well:
Djokovic’s much improved serve was again on display extensively in the match against Medvedev, as it won the Serb quite a few easy points. Djokovic mostly served to the forehand side of the 26-year-old Russian on the deuce court to push him to the corner and then hit powerful down-the-line forehands to the open court.
The 21-time-Grand Slam champion has hit his forehand really well in almost all the matches in the tournament and Saturday was no exception.
That tactic worked as the Serb was not broken even once in the match. He broke Medvedev in the fourth game of first set to go 3-1 up and then kept holding his serve to win the first set easily.
#2. Medvedev looked a bit jaded as Djokovic did enough to win the second set:
Medvedev served moderately well by his lofty standards in the match, but looked a bit jaded when the rallies lasted for long. Djokovic took full advantage of that and kept moving the Russian from side to side on quite a few occasions.
The Serb also used his backhand slices and drop shots well and often ventured forward into the net to finish points. He got the crucial break of serve in the second set as well and managed to finish the match with relative ease. The Serb still seemed to have something left in his tank at the end of the match.
Main Photo from Getty.
