Dubai: Top seed Daniil Medvedev, after a battle in the second round, had a smoother outing Thursday in defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Medvedev had needed three sets to oust Italian Lorenzo Sonego a day earlier, but the Russian rode 15 winners, three aces and just six unforced errors to dispatch Spain’s Davidovich Fokina in one hour and 17 minutes.
The Russian is playing in just his second tournament of the season after reaching the Australian Open final, where he suffered an agonising defeat by Jannik Sinner after leading by two sets.
Reigning champion Medvedev is bidding to defend an ATP title for the first time, having won 20 trophies at Tour-level events in his career, but all at different tournaments.
