PARIS (Reuters) – Russia’s third seed Daniil Medvedev eased past Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-1 to reach the Paris Masters semi-finals on Friday, leaving the Argentine facing a nervous wait to see whether he will qualify for the ATP Tour Finals.
Medvedev made a brisk start to take a 3-1 lead before sealing a one-sided opening set when Schwartzman hit his eighth forehand error into the net.
The 24-year-old Medvedev found another gear as he claimed 27 of 28 first serve points and wrapped up an emphatic victory with an ace down the line.
“I think Diego is capable of playing better so didn’t show his best tennis,” said Medvedev, who has already booked a place in the season finale in London and will face Canadian Milos Raonic for a place in the final.
“With Diego, you know you’re going to have long rallies so it was good for me to win in such a short time. It was good preparation for London, even without the spectators.”
Schwartzman needed a win to guarantee qualification for the ATP Finals in London, contested by the top eight players, from Nov. 15 but went down in just 62 minutes.
Raonic had to dig deep to beat 22-year-old Frenchman Ugo Humbert, saving two match points in a 6-3 3-6 7-6(7) victory.
The 10th seed was 6-4 down in the tiebreak but prevailed in a 30-stroke rally to save the first match point and saw off the second with a service winner.
Humbert then saved a match point but bowed out on the second when Raonic smacked his 25th ace of the match.
Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, who faces top-seeded compatriot Rafa Nadal later on Friday, could deny Schwartzman a maiden ATP Finals appearance by lifting the Paris trophy and also next week’s Sofia Open.
Yet Carreno Busta has lost in each of his six meetings with Nadal.
“Since I won yesterday (Thursday) I’m just watching Pablo, because it’s the only opponent I have right now,” said Schwartzman.
“We were joking about the next tournament in Sofia, if he’s going to play or if he’s going to win this tournament.
“But, yeah, obviously I’m watching right now because I’m not anymore in the tournament, and today maybe I hope Rafa wins.”
(Reporting by Julien Pretot and Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis and Christian Radnedge)
