Medvedev sets up mouthwatering Djokovic clash in Astana semi-finals

The two most recent world No 1s – Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic – will meet in the semi-finals at the Astana Open after the Russian secured a 6-1, 6-1 win over Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday.

“I am happy to play the right game, to be really solid and to do everything I can to make his life difficult and I am really happy to beat him,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview, as cited by the ATP Tour. “I tried to mix it up as it is not easy to play against Roberto. I tried to mix it up and surprise him a little bit and it worked very well.”

Serb Novak Djokovic, the No 4 seed, booked his place earlier in the day with a straight-sets win over Karen Khachanov.

In the previous rounds, the Russian won against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas (6-3, 6-1) and Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (6-3, 6-2).

Bautista Agut, ranked No 21, defeated Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 8 seed (6-4, 7-6 (6)) and Russian lucky loser Pavel Kotov (6-1, 7-6 (5)) earlier in the tournament.

Nur-Sultan ATP 250, other last-eight results (Daulet National Tennis Center, USD 1.900.000, most recent results first):

• Novak Djokovic beat Karen Khachanov: 6-4, 6-3
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) beat Hubert Hurkacz (7): 7-6 (8), 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Adrian Mannarino: 6-1, 6-2