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Medvedev leads Russia to Davis Cup semis

Tales AzzoniAP
Russian Andrey Rublev at his athletic best during his win over Sweden's Elias Ymer in the Davis Cup.
Camera IconRussian Andrey Rublev at his athletic best during his win over Sweden's Elias Ymer in the Davis Cup. Credit: AP

Daniil Medvedev has maintained his perfect record at the Davis Cup Finals to put Russia into the last four.

Medvedev defeated Mikael Ymer 6-4 6-4 on Thursday to give Russia an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Sweden in the quarter-finals of the revamped World Cup of men's tennis.

Andrey Rublev had earlier outlasted Elias Ymer, Mikael's older brother, in a 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-3) win at the Madrid Arena.

Russia will now face Germany in the semi-finals on Saturday, while Serbia, led by top-ranked Novak Djokovic, will face Croatia in the other last-four contest on Friday.

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It was the third consecutive straight-sets victory for the second-ranked Medvedev after group-stage wins over Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta and Ecuador's Emilio Gomez.

The world No.2 broke serve twice in the first set and three times in the second against world No.94 Mikael Ymer, Sweden's top-ranked player.

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"Today I should've served better, but I'm really happy to bring the point to the team," Medvedev said.

"The most important thing is that we are winning a lot of matches. We didn't lose a tie in the group and we are really looking forward to Saturday."

Russia lost in the semi-finals of the last edition in 2019 but look in powerful shape to lift a third Davis Cup title after triumphs in 2002 and 2006.

The Russian team is this year officially being called RTF (Russian Tennis Federation) amid its ongoing doping suspension from international sport.

The fifth-ranked Rublev had a much harder time than Medvedev in his singles match against the 171st-ranked Elias Ymer.

After breaking serve twice to win the first set, he served for the match at 5-4 in the second but couldn't close it out as Ymer won three straight games.

"Serving for the match, I relax a bit when I shouldn't do this," Rublev said.

"I missed some easy forehands that normally if you're focused and you're doing everything right, you're not going to miss them. I bring him back to the game.

"Then he starts to believe in himself, he starts to play much, much better."

The Swede saved seven break points in total in the decisive set to keep it tight, but Rublev ultimately prevailed in the tiebreaker for his second straight victory.

Shamil Tarpischev, the longest-serving captain in Davis Cup history, is participating in his 100th tie with Russia.

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