MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev advanced to the final stage of the 2023 Dubai ATP Tennis Tournament after defeating World’s No. 1 Novak Jokovic on Friday.

Russia’s Medvedev, who plays under a neutral status at international tournaments, defeated the world’s top player from Serbia, Jokovic, in straight sets 6-4; 6-4 and is now set to face in the final match on March 4 his compatriot Andrey Rublev.

Djokovic, 35, boasts 93 wins on the ATP circuit and returned to the top of ATP Rankings on January 30 after winning the 2023 Australian Open. The Serbian has won 22 Grand Slam titles (ten Australian Opens, seven Wimbledons, three US Opens and two French Opens).

"When you play against Novak you just have to play your best," the official ATP website cited Medvedev as saying after his match with Jokovic. "Kind of hope he doesn’t play his best on the day because when he plays his best, well he has 22 Grand Slams, so even if you play your best, it is going to be tough, not sure you win."

"I managed to play a higher level than him today. In the second set I didn’t face one break point, but there were so many 30/30 games. But I managed to stay composed and I am happy to be in the final tomorrow," Medvedev added.

Medvedev, 27, is currently ranked 7th in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Rankings. In 2022, he was the number one ranked tennis player in the world for 16 weeks. He is the 2021 US Open Champion in addition to being the winner of 17 ATP tournaments.

Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Andrey Rublev outplayed German tennis star Alexander Zverev 6-3; 7-6 (11-9) in the semifinals of this year’s ATP tournament in Dubai.

"We are really good friends, we have known each other since 10 or 11 years old," the official ATP website quoted Rublev as saying after his win over Zverev

"We have been together since juniors," the Russian tennis star said speaking about his relationship with Zverev. "He was always like an older brother to me and in all the previous matches he beat me. Today when I was going on court I thought I had nothing to lose. He always beats me, so why need to be tight."

Rublev, 25, is currently ranked 6th in the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Ranking List and he is the winner of 12 ATP tournaments. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, never going further than the quarterfinals. While playing for the Russian national team, he took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup.

It will be the first-ever ATP tournament’s final between players representing Russia in men’s singles category in 14 years. In 2008 Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn faced in the final of the ATP Kremlin Cup his compatriot Marat Safin and defeated him 7-6 (8-6); 6-7 (4-7); 6-3.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations and also canceled all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in these countries.

On March 14, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but under a neutral status.