Novak Djokovic into Astana final after Daniil Medvedev retires, Tsitsipas awaits

It was looking like it could become an absolute classic after two sets of high-quality tennis, but after dropping the second set in a tie-break, Daniil Medvedev was forced to retire against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the ATP 500 event in Astana, Kazakhstan, Djokovic advancing to the final with a 4-6, 7-6 (6) retirement victory.

“I’m still surprised that he retired the match,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “He looked completely fine, maybe last seven or eight points I’ve seen him maybe move slightly slower, but it’s a shock, honestly. I was ready for a third set battle.

“I really hope that his injury is nothing too serious. I know Daniil—he’s a great guy, he’s a fighter, he’s a big competitor, he wouldn’t retire a match if he didn’t feel like he couldn’t continue or to worsen his injury. He told me he pulled an adductor muscle in his leg.

“It was such a close match, particularly in the second set, and I’ll probably say he was the better player on the court in both sets. I was fighting, and trying to find a way—I found a way to win the second. I’m sad in a way for the tournament and these people who were enjoying the battle, and for Daniil that it had to end this way.”

For two sets, the two men put on a show for the packed crowd in the Kazakh capital.

Djokovic came into the match as one of the hottest players on the tour, having won his last seven matches—as well as his last 14 sets—in a row, not dropping a set en route to his 89th career ATP title in Tel Aviv, Israel last week, and not losing a set here either.

And early on it looked like this one could have been anyone’s game with four routine holds en route to 2-all, but then Medvedev broke for 3-2—and after Djokovic broke right back, Medvedev broke again for 4-3 and held from there until he had the first set.

Neither man flinched on serve in the second set, with 12 consecutive holds en route to the tie-break. Djokovic drew first blood, getting an early mini-break and eventually building a 5-3 lead—Medvedev caught up to 5-all, just two points from victory, but Djokovic stayed strong and eventually clinched the set on his second set point.

Then, Medvedev was forced to retire.

Until that point, the two players combined for 53 winners to just 36 unforced errors in the match (Djokovic 27 to 25, Medvedev 26 to 11).

Djokovic is now a win away from the 90th ATP title of his historic career. The 21-time Grand Slam champion is 89-38 in his first 127 career ATP finals.

Awaiting Djokovic in the final will be Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won another all-Top 10 clash against Andrey Rublev in the first semifinal of the day, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

There were only three breaks in the entire match—Rublev broke in the very first game of the match and rode that break all the way to the first set, while Tsitsipas broke in the very last game of the second set and then again in the second-to-last game of the match before serving out the two-hour, seven-minute victory.

Tsitsipas has won some very big titles—he won the ATP Finals in 2019, as well as a pair of Masters 1000s, both in Monte Carlo, last year and this year. But on Sunday he’ll be going for his first ATP 500 title—he’s actually 0-8 in finals at this level of tournament, finishing runner-up at Barcelona in 2018, Dubai and Beijing in 2019, Dubai and Hamburg in 2020, Acapulco and Barcelona in 2021 and Rotterdam earlier this year.