Halle Open: Daniil Medvedev beats Oscar Otte to set up a showdown with Hubert Hurkacz
Daniil Medvedev has advanced to his second grass event final in two weeks after beating local hope Oscar Otte in the Halle semifinal 7-6(3) 6-3. The win arrived a week after he was runner-up at 's-Hertogenbosch
Halle open: Daniil Medvedev beats Oscar Otte Halle openMedvedev wasn't in his best form, which was beneficial for Otte, but the world number one pulled through regardless. He saved an early break point but fell under the bus at 3-5 later on. Otte almost took the opening set at 5-3, backed up by a set point but couldn't convert it, and Medvedev took his revenge. The set went into a tiebreak, and the Russian won it 7-3.
The second set was effortless for Medvedev because by then, he had figured out how to overpower his opponent Otte. The German showed resilience in his rallies, so Medvedev took his time. He waited until Otte conceded his serve, only for the Russian to take a 4-2 lead. Medvedev didn't allow a single break point in the second set compared to the first set, where he faced six. The excited home crowd walked out disappointed after witnessing world number 51 Otte's loss. He had beaten top 30 players Miomir Kecmanovic, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Karen Khachanov in his HalleNow tournament debut campaign but couldn't trump Medvedev.
Not playing at Wimbledon will not affect Daniil Medvedev's ranking
The 26-year-old Russian will now play Nick Kyrgios or Hubert Hurkacz in the summit clash on Sunday. After his win, Medvedev admitted that he was happy with how he raised his level after a poor run in Halle last year. He reiterated how he loves playing on grass, so it is remarkable for him to reach the final of one of the most fantastic tournaments on grass. Although the tournament is a build-up event to the Wimbledon starting on June 27, it will not feature Russian and Belarusian players, including Medvedev.
Wimbledon decided to ban the players from the respective countries due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the men's and women's tours won't provide ranking points for the grass-court Grand Slam. The ban didn't stop Medvedev from delivering a legendary performance on grass. His victory against Otte has left him 6-1 on grass this season, and the only loss against the then-205th-ranked Tim van Rijthoven at last week's s-Hertogenbosch final in the Netherlands was a shocking turn of events.
The decision made on ranking points at Wimbledon will be advantageous for Medvedev because he had only reached the fourth round last year, so he has fewer points to give away than title holder Novak Djokovic.