De Minaur upsets Medvedev, faces Davidovich Fokina in surprising Toronto semi-final

There will be a surprising, all-unseeded semi-final showdown at the National Bank Open in Toronto between Alex de Minaur and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

After Davidovich Fokina erased Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2 in the first quarter-final on Friday afternoon, De Minaur upset No 2 Daniil Medvedev 7-6(7), 7-5. The 18th-ranked Australian was the better player at the crucial moments of each set and he got across the finish line in two hours and three minutes.

“I’m probably most proud of my mental state,” De Minaur commented. “You know, throughout the whole match I thought I was very level-headed and at no point in that match did I feel frazzled at all. I knew my game-plan; I stuck to it. I stayed positive. And I knew that any small chances I was going to get I was going to have to take them and try to be aggressive and it worked out. So (I’m) extremely happy with that.”

“First of all, he played well.” said Medvedev, who blew a 5-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker. “I mean, I felt it was not a bad match. I definitely could have done better to win the first set.”

De Minaur had previously defeated No 11 seed Cameron Norrie (7-5, 6-4), Canadian wild card Gabriel Diallo (6-4, 7-5) and No 8 seed Taylor Fritz (7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-1).

Medvedev reached the last eight by beating two Italians: qualifier Matteo Arnaldi (6-2, 7-5) and No 16 seed Lorenzo Musetti (6-4, 6-4).

Toronto Masters, other quarter-final results:

• Gael Monfils vs. Jannik Sinner
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Tommy Paul
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2

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