He wrote, 'Peace, Peace, Peace, All we need,' on a TV camera lens. That match is better remembered for Rublev's appeal for peace. Rublev has beaten Medvedev the past two times they squared off, including at the ATP Finals in November. Last year, Rublev beat Jiri Vesely for the title. He always beat me, so why I need to be tight,' Rublev said. 'Today, when I was going on court, I was thinking I have nothing to lose. Sixth-ranked Rublev saved a set point in the second-set tiebreaker. Rublev had lost all five previous matches against his longtime friend, who reached his first semifinal since the French Open in June. Rublev needed six match points to finally put away Zverev for his first tour-level win over the German player. That win denied Djokovic the first Grand Slam in men's singles since 1969.ĭjokovic then won their next four meetings.īut Medvedev improved to 5-3 against Djokovic when the Serbian player is ranked first.Įarlier, Rublev advanced by beating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (9) in the other semifinal. Medvedev hadn't beaten Djokovic since the 2021 US Open final, when he clinched his first and thus far only major title. In the second set, I didn't face one break point, but there were so many 30-30, deuce. 'I managed to play a higher level than him today.

'When you play against Novak, you just have to play your best, kind of hope that he doesn't play his best,' Medvedev said. On Friday, Medvedev broke Djokovic twice in the first set and again to open the second, eventually closing it out on his first match point. He hadn't lost since November when he dropped the Paris Masters final to Holger Rune. Djokovic was competing in his first event since winning the Australian Open for his record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam singles title.

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