By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday March 14, 2024
A tiff between Medvedev and Rune got the crowd buzzing on Thursday night in Indian Wells.
Photo Source: Getty
Indian Wells – A heated altercation after the first point of the second set will make all the headlines, but the real story is this: Daniil Medvedev continues to defy expectations by playing great tennis at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The Russian reached his first Masters semifinal since Rome last May, taking out Holger Rune in an entertaining tussle, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the last four for the second consecutive time at Indian Wells.
On the type of slow-playing surface that Medvedev claims to detest, the Russian keeps finding ways to win.
Medvedev improved to 2-1 against Rune in the pair's first hard court meeting, and he also got miffed when Rune went at him with a backhand from in close in the first point of the second set. Medvedev was angry because he believed that Rune never apologized, but in truth he had missed the Dane’s apology and after he realized that fact, the pair shook hands and went on with their business.
"The thing is that we're living in such a world now with social media, this is probably this is going to be there for like, I don't know, 10 years," Medvedev said. "And the good points that we had, they were amazing, gonna be in one day no one remembers."
Is there any lingering contempt? Not at all, said the Russian.
"Oh, no, nothing against Holger," he said. "As I say, it's just I didn't see him say sorry after he went for me, you know. … I didn't see it. So I got mad. But it was, it happened, and then when they both told me it happened, that's when I was from my side, sorry for my reaction. Let's move forward, yeah.”
The No.4 seed did move forward in the draw as well, while Rune’s run is done in the desert. The Russian broke Rune four times from 10 opportunities to lock up his 13th victory of the season in one hour and 56 minutes.
He will face American Tommy Paul, the No.17 seed who took out Casper Ruud 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 on Stadium 2 during the day session.
By winning, Paul stretches a noteworthy streak, as one American man has reached at least the semifinals at Indian Wells in each of the last four years.
“I'm pumped about that,” Paul said. “I kind of knew but I didn't know I had to win today to keep that streak alive. So, yeah, that's awesome. Pumped for the U.S. fans that we have produced some pretty good results here.”
Medvedev leads Paul 2-0 in their head to head.