Top-seed Daniil Medvedev was stunned by Tallon Griekspoor at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday as the world No 47 recorded the biggest win of his career.
The Dutchman saved three match points to beat Medvedev 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 to reach the semi-finals at the ATP 500, his eighth last-four appearance on the ATP Tour.
“I’m absolutely thrilled with this win,” Griekspoor said. “I had to fight off a few match points in the second set … Daniil is an incredible player and competitor. He’s been at the top of the game for years, so this is a huge victory for me.”
Griekspoor had already beaten Roman Safiullin in the first round and defending champion Ugo Humbert in the second, and will now face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won a hard-fought match 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 against Matteo Berrettini to reach his first semi-final since July 2024.
“[Daniil] played unbelievably well in the first set,” said Griekspoor. “I wasn’t doing too much wrong, but he was just better. I just tried to hang in there, even after going a break down in the second. Once I broke back, I felt the momentum shift a little in my favour.
"I had some luck on the match points I saved and in the second-set tiebreak, and even when I had match points myself, it took a few tries to close it out.”
Medvedev, who had been seeking a third successive Dubai semi-final, was asked what changed in the second set.
“[Tallon] started playing better in some moments. I do think in a way he got lucky with some shots, but that’s tennis. When I say ‘lucky’, he also went for it, so he deserves it. It’s on his side this week, luck. Sometimes it happens: You go all the way like this – a little bit crazy. Let’s see where it brings him.”
For now, it has brought him to the semi-final in Dubai and a tie with former World No 3 Tsitsipas, after the Greek star outlasted Berrettini in a match that went on until after midnight.
“It’s a great feeling being back so deep in a tournament,” said Tsitsipas. “It brings a smile to my face to know I’ve been playing good tennis to get to the semis of one of the biggest 500s.
"It was a difficult match, lots of ups and downs. My first set was a great effort to finish it off, but I didn’t really deliver in the second – it was pretty poor. I find it actually quite confusing how I managed to win in the end because it felt like I was going through some mental battle during the match.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime will play Quentin Halys in the other semi-final after he defeated Marin Cilic.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime took two hours, 18 minutes before Cilic, facing match point on serve, sent a forehand wide. The former World No 6 fired a total of 13 aces and broke the Croat three times to reach his fourth semi-final of 2025.
“It’s been a great start,” said Auger-Aliassime of his Tour-leading 15 wins this season. “Of course there’s the work, but then there’s also just seizing opportunities. Sometimes you have to be fortunate … This week, I won three three-set matches that went back and forth. Now the level is so high everywhere, the margins are really small, but I’m glad that it went my way and another semi-final – it’s great.”
Halys secured a first semi-final at an ATP 500 with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory over Lucky Loser Luca Nardi. Halys had earlier this week stunned third seed Andrey Rublev, who won in Dubai in 2022.
“The end was crazy,” Halys said. “We were missing some easy shots and playing some crazy rallies … I’m super happy about the win and how I handled the end of the match.
"I’m coming from the qualifiers; I didn’t have many matches before this tournament. The way I’m playing this week is crazy good.”
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