Tsitsipas wins fifth straight over Isner

The thoughtful Tsitsipas said he had to shift his strategy after being broken as Isner squared the match in front of a home crowd at a set each.

But the two-time semi-finalist put Plan B into action to emerge with a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 quarter-final win.

“It’s never easy to play him, due to all his variations of play,” Tsitsipas said after defeating the 37-year-old. “The most important thing is to stay patient.

“There are situations you can’t control. The break of serve in the second set was not ideal, but I kept calm and found another solution.

“The match came down to a few points. I was able to hang in there and make one more balli – he didn’t give me a lot to work with.” 

Top seed Medvedev advanced past Taylor Fritz 7-6(1), 6-3 to secure his semi-final on the back of 18 aces.

The 2019 champion here beat his 11th-seeded opponent in just under an hour and three-quarters. He leads Tsitsipas 7-2 overall and won their first five matches..

“The second set was much better than the first,” Medvedev said. “Taylor is a great player, from the baseline he didn’t give you much space.

“He was hitting the ball strong, making a lot of good points.

“But I’m happy with my level. If I can continue to play this way and raise my level during matches I can beat anybody.”

The opening set took just more than an hour to complete while the second was done in half that. Medvedeve saved six of six break points. .

“Today everything worked out in the most important moments, and that’s why I won,” he said.

Medvedev will play his first Masters semi-final of 2022. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas held on to score his fifth straight defeat of John Isner on Friday, with the Greek fourth seed moving into a Cincinnati Masters semi-final with world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.

The thoughtful Tsitsipas said he had to shift his strategy after being broken as Isner squared the match in front of a home crowd at a set each.

But the two-time semi-finalist put Plan B into action to emerge with a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 quarter-final win.

“It’s never easy to play him, due to all his variations of play,” Tsitsipas said after defeating the 37-year-old. “The most important thing is to stay patient.

“There are situations you can’t control. The break of serve in the second set was not ideal, but I kept calm and found another solution.

“The match came down to a few points. I was able to hang in there and make one more balli – he didn’t give me a lot to work with.” 

Top seed Medvedev advanced past Taylor Fritz 7-6(1), 6-3 to secure his semi-final on the back of 18 aces.

The 2019 champion here beat his 11th-seeded opponent in just under an hour and three-quarters. He leads Tsitsipas 7-2 overall and won their first five matches..

“The second set was much better than the first,” Medvedev said. “Taylor is a great player, from the baseline he didn’t give you much space.

“He was hitting the ball strong, making a lot of good points.

“But I’m happy with my level. If I can continue to play this way and raise my level during matches I can beat anybody.”

The opening set took just more than an hour to complete while the second was done in half that. Medvedeve saved six of six break points. .

“Today everything worked out in the most important moments, and that’s why I won,” he said.

Medvedev will play his first Masters semi-final of 2022.