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Medvedev steals spotlight in Sofia tennis

Russian ace Daniil Medvedev has produced a relentless display of hard-hitting to deny Frenchman Gael Monfils an appearance in the Sofia Open final.

Russian ace Daniil Medvedev
Russian ace Daniil Medvedev has made it to the final of the Sofia Open in Bulgaria. (AAP)

Big-hitting Daniil Medvedev has stolen the show at the Sofia Open as he punched his way to an emphatic 6-2 6-4 victory over former world No.6 Gael Monfils to set up a decider with Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.

The Russian delighted the crowd in Arena Armeets with a barrage of sizzling winners as he broke twice in the first five games and never took his foot off the pedal to clinch the opening set on Saturday.

The Frenchman put up more of a fight in the second and even managed to break to love in the eighth game.

But the 22-year-old Medvedev, hauling his giant 1.96 metre frame around the court, kept his composure to seal the win on his first match point.

""It was difficult at the end as Gael never stopped fighting. I'm glad that things didn't get complicated and I made it to the final," said Medvedev.

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World No.47 Fucsovics battled past Italian giant-killer Matteo Berrettini 5-7 7-5 6-3 to progress to his second ATP final.

The Italian outclassed top seed Karen Khachanov and Fernando Verdasco in a sparkling week in the Bulgarian capital but his energy went down in the third set.

The 27-year-old Hungarian, who won his maiden ATP title in Geneva last year, recovered well after surrendering the gruelling first set to secure his place in the final.


2 min read

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Source: AAP



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