Russia’s Daniil Medvedev hits a return to France’s Gilles Simon during their Libema Open tennis match in Rosmalen, on June 9, 2022. (Photo by Sander Koning / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT
Daniil Medvedev defeated Ilya Ivashka in a battle of banned Wimbledon players on Friday to reach the ‘s-Hertogenbosch semi-finals and move closer to regaining the world top ranking.
The top-seeded Russian downed his 41st-ranked Belarusian rival 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 in one hour and 51 minutes at the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Medvedev will reclaim the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic on Monday for the first time since March.
Medvedev and Ivaskha, as well as a host of other Russian and Belarusian players, have been banned from Wimbledon following the invasion of Ukraine.
“I don’t have many points to defend on grass and I have some to win, so hopefully I can play well, starting here,” said Medvedev.
“Every round is points and the higher you get, the more you need to step up.”
In Saturday’s semi-final, Medvedev will take on France’s Adrian Mannarino who won the most recent edition of the event in the Netherlands in 2019.
Mannarino saw off Brandon Nakashima of the United States 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-4 in his quarterfinal.