Medvedev Marches Into Almaty Semifinals to Keep Title Defence Alive

Top seed Daniil Medvedev kept his Almaty Open title defence firmly on track on Friday, sweeping past France's Terence Atmane 6-4, 6-4 to book a place in the semifinals of the ATP 250 event. The world No. 5 was rock solid on serve, winning 91 percent of his first-serve points and firing five aces while never facing a single break point across the one-hour-and-15-minute contest. He broke Atmane twice and struck 24 winners, and afterward admitted the scoreline flattered the ease of the win. "It is not easy to play against Terence," Medvedev said. "Big serve, big shots. I had to stay in the match and found some good passing shots and good winners." The victory extended Medvedev's head-to-head lead over Atmane to 3-0 and kept alive his hunt for a fourth title of the season after triumphs in Brisbane, Dubai and Hangzhou. It also strengthened his grip on sixth place in the live Race to Turin, with a place at the ATP Finals still not fully secured and Jannik Sinner's season-ending injury opening one extra qualifying spot. Medvedev will face either home favourite Alexander Bublik or Karen Khachanov in Saturday's semifinal. Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated James Duckworth 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first hard-court semifinal since winning Dubai in February 2025, setting up a clash with qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili, who beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-1.