Tennis: Medvedev crashes out in Dubai, Tsitsipas survives 

Stefanos Tsitsipas is into the semis, but Daniil Medvedev was not so lucky.

Top seed Daniil Medvedev crashed out of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday, while fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a scare to reach the semi-finals of the ATP 500 tournament.

Medvedev’s loss to world No.47 Tallon Griekspoor was the Russian’s fifth defeat of the season by a player ranked outside of the top 20.

The two-hour, 37-minute clash went down to the wire, with Griekspoor saving four match points en route to a 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 victory.

“I’m super happy with this win,” the Dutchman said after the match. 

“I had to fight off a couple of match points in the second set.

“Daniil is an unbelievable player, an unbelievable competitor. 

“He’s been at the top of the rankings for so many years, so I’m very pleased with this win.

“I thought he played so well in the first set. I didn’t do badly, he was just too good. 

“I just tried to stay tough with it, even though I went a break down in the second. 

“When I broke him back, I felt like the momentum went a little bit my way. 

“I was a little bit lucky on the match points down, and in the second-set tie-break. 

“I even needed a few match points myself to finish this one off.”

Griekspoor was a heavy underdog on leading tennis betting apps ahead of the match, paying +275 to win at Nags.bet.

The victory sends him through to an eighth ATP Tour semi-final, where he will face Tsitsipas for a spot in the decider.

The Greek also had a hard-fought quarter-final in Dubai, getting past Matteo Berrettini 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4 in just under two hours.

Tennis betting sites had Berrettini listed as a -188.68 favourite to edge out the former world No.3, who was pleased with his performance despite some tough moments.

“It’s a great feeling being back so deep in tournaments,” Tsitsipas said after the match.

“It brings a smile on my face knowing I’ve played good tennis so far to get to this point. 

“There were a lot of ups and downs. The first set was a great effort, but I didn’t deliver in the second. 

“But it’s confusing how I found myself winning at the end, because I felt like I was going through some mental battles during that match.”

Tsitsipas is on the second line of title betting at +210 with Nags.bet, behind Felix Auger-Aliassime (+110).

The tournament favourite is paying -303.03 to defeat French bolter Quentin Halys in his semi-final on Friday.

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