We expected Daniil Medvedev to put on a long run at the National Bank Open in Toronto, but the Russian’s adventure finally ended in the quarterfinals when he was beaten by Alex de Minaur on Friday.

The young Australian overtook a deficit in the second set and finally won 7:6 (7) and 7:5. He broke twice in service to the runner-up in the last three games, securing his win in 2 hours and 3 minutes. Check out the highlights above.

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In the eighth game of the second set, de Minaur hit Medvedev for the break in what turned out to be a fatal blow. The 27-year-old tennis player shot himself in the leg with seven double faults, including one confirming his backhand.

“When I play against Daniil, it’s a bit like a chess game,” he said in an on-pitch interview with TVA Sports in very good French. We both knew we were very defensive. When I play against him I have to be more aggressive. If I have a small chance, I have to take it. When I play like this, I’m playing my best tennis.

the 18th^e World Racket was excellent on serve and scored 80% of points on the first ball. His casualties of the week included two members of the world top 15, Cameron Norrie and Taylor Fritz, as well as Quebecois and crowd favorite Gabriel Diallo.

Alex de Minaur meets Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semifinals. The latter has won two of the three duels between the two men, most recently in London in 2022.

“I am very happy to play my first semi-final [en Masters 1000]he recalled, comparing his command of Molière’s language with his playing. I tried to speak French, it’s not very good, but I tried, like I do on the pitch. »

Milos Raonic’s heartthrob also falls

Mackenzie McDonald made short work of Canadian Milos Raonic in Thursday’s game, but the American was stronger than him in the person of Davidovich Fokina.

The Spaniard secured a convincing straight-set win 6-4, 6-2. The game was marked by several breaks at both ends, but every time McDonald stole his serve, Davidovich Fokina responded the same way in the next game.

The 24-year-old tennis player showed great consistency with balls in hand, notably winning 57% of rallies on his second serve.

“In the beginning I made a lot of mistakes, so I told myself I need to be more confident,” he told TVA Sports. He played very aggressively and was very fast. I thought he couldn’t keep that pace for the whole game. He made a few mistakes and I thought, “You better watch out, because I won’t forget.”

Davidovich Fokina appears to have found his way to Toronto, where he has already finished the heats of two top seeds. 37^e Players in the ATP ranking offered Alexander Zverev (13^e) and Casper Ruud (3^e) in the last two days.

One of his habit of wearing different socks on each foot, one black and one white, caught the attention of Canadian fans this week.

“It’s a superstition,” said the Málaga native. It’s been like this since I was 15 or 16. I can’t remember why I did that, but maybe it’s because I forgot one of my socks. From that moment it became superstition.”