Medvedev leads Russia into Cup semifinals

Daniil Medvedev maintained his perfect record at the Davis Cup finals to put Russia into the last four.

Medvedev beat Mikael Ymer 6-4 6-4 to give Russia an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Sweden in the quarterfinals of the revamped team event in Madrid.

Andrey Rublev earlier outlasted Elias Ymer, Mikael’s older brother, in a 6-2 5-7 7-6 (3) win.

Russia will face Germany in the semifinals tomorrow. Serbia and top-ranked Novak Djokovic were to but he still expects Djokovic to hold the record for major titles when the trio hang up their racquets.

‘‘Djokovic is best positioned to be face Croatia in the other semifinal today.

It was the third consecutive straight-set victory for the secondranked Medvedev after group-stage wins over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta and Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez.

Medvedev broke serve twice in the first set and three times in the second against No 94 Mikael Ymer, Sweden’s top-ranked player.

‘‘I should’ve served better, but I’m really happy to bring the point to the team,’’ Medvedev said. Russia, who are seeking their third the [men’s] player with the most grand slams,’’ Nadal said in an interview to Movistar.

‘‘You don’t have to fool yourself.

Davis Cup title after triumphs in 2002 and 2006, are officially

called RTF (Russian Tennis Federation) in the competition amid its ongoing doping suspension in international sport.

The fifth-ranked Rublev had a much harder time than Medvedev in his singles match against the 171st-ranked Elias Ymer.

After breaking serve twice to win the first set, he served for the match at 5-4 in the second but couldn’t close it out as Ymer won three straight games.

‘‘Serving for the match, I relax a bit when I shouldn’t do this,’’ Rublev said.

The Swede saved seven break points in total in the decisive set to keep it tight, but Rublev ultimately prevailed in the tiebreaker for his second straight victory after opening with a loss against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez. Elias Ymer had won both his group-stage matches.

The competition did not take place last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

–AP