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National Bank Open 2021: Medvedev vs. Opelka Finals Set After Semis Results
August 15, 2021
Daniil Medvedev will go for his third men's singles title of the season Sunday at the National Bank Open.
The top-seeded player in Toronto cruised into the championship match with a straight-sets victory over John Isner.
Medvedev will play American Reilly Opelka in Sunday's final. Opelka upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in a three-set thriller. This will be his third career final on the ATP Tour. He won his previous two in lesser events, one in 2020 and another in 2019.
Men's Semifinal Results
No. 1 Daniil Medvedev def. John Isner, 6-2, 6-2
Reilly Opelka def. No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4), 6-4
Medvedev needed 55 minutes to advance past Isner.
The top-seeded Russian had no issue dealing with his American opponent's powerful serve.
Medvedev won four of the seven break points he produced, and he conceded a single break-point opportunity over two sets.
Saturday's straight-sets victory sent Medvedev to his fifth career final in a Masters 1000 event. He is 3-1 in those matches. Medvedev's lone defeat came at the 2019 edition of the National Bank Open, when he fell to Rafael Nadal in two sets.
He should be the heavy favorite to get past Opelka on Sunday, which would create plenty of momentum going into the next tournament in Cincinnati and the U.S. Open, where Novak Djokovic should be the player to beat.
Opelka displayed fight in some of his previous four meetings with Medvedev. The case for the 23-year-old to contend Sunday was made stronger by his come-from-behind win over Tsitsipas.
The American fell to the No. 3 seed in a first-set tiebreak, but he rallied back to level the match in a second set tiebreak. Opelka earned his lone service break of the match in the third set to create enough separation to close out Tsitsipas.
Medvedev has won all three head-to-head meetings with Opelka on outdoor courts and has beaten the American in three sets on as many occasions. Their most recent match took place on the clay at Roland-Garros. Opelka's lone win over Medvedev came on an indoor hard court in St. Petersburg, Russia, last year.
Statistics obtained from ATPTour.com.