Russian dream team on course for Davis Cup win as Medvedev and Rublev march on

Tennis News
Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev secured victory for the Russian Tennis Federation over Germany to set up a Davis Cup final showdown with Croatia on Sunday.

The Russian team – the only one in the competition to boast two top-10 singles players – produced dominant performances in Saturday’s semi-final in Madrid.

In the first match, Rublev cruised past Dominik Koepfer inside 49 minutes to give the 2002 and 2006 champions the perfect start.

The world number five won 84 percent (27/32) of his first-serve points and fired nine aces in his 6-4 6-0 triumph.

Medvedev then sealed victory for the Russians, overcoming Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 6-4 in 66 minutes.

The 25-year-old produced just six unforced errors and saved the one break point he faced.

“I am really happy for the team to be in the final,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview.

“It has been an amazing week. It won’t be easy (against Croatia). They have the best doubles team in the world.

“We need to try to close it out in singles but we believe in our guys in doubles.”

With the doubles match a dead rubber, the Russians opted to give Karen Khachanov his first appearance in the tournament alongside Aslan Karatsev and they went down 4-6 6-3 6-4 to Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz as Germany gained some consolation for the semi-final defeat.

Andrey Rublev Daniil Medvedev

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