BEIJING, September 30. /TASS/. Russia’s top racket Daniil Medvedev stormed into the semifinals of the 2024 ATP China Open tennis tournament on Monday with a straight-sets win over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.

In a match that lasted one hour and 28 minutes, 3rd-seed Medvedev routed his unseeded Italian opponent 6-2; 6-4.

"Today was not an easy match, but I'm happy that I fought until the end," the official website of the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) quoted Medvedev as saying after the match.

"Actually some good points here and there," Medvedev continued. "One amazing shot, probably one of the best shots of my life I think, at 0/30 in the last game. Super lucky, but you fight until the end, and sometimes you get these lucky shots."

Next up for the Russian will be a semifinal clash against World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who breezed past his quarterfinals opponent, another Russian player, Karen Khachanov, 7-5; 6-2 later in the day.

Speaking about his upcoming match against Alcaraz, Medvedev said "Tomorrow, a tough test against Carlos."

"I think for me, and I think I'm not the only one to say it... When he's in the zone, he's probably the best player in the world," the Russian said. "Tough to play him. I feel like now he's in the zone. So it [is] great test for me."

"I'm going to see how I go out there tomorrow, what tactic, what do I believe in, and I'm going to go for it," he added.

After his win over Khachanov, Alcaraz commented about his next Russian opponent: "It’s always difficult facing Medvedev."

"I played great matches against him earlier this year and during the past couple of years," the ATP official website quoted Alcaraz as saying. "I’m ready to take that challenge, to try to play my best tennis to pass him."

"It’s always a war. Long matches, long rallies, when I play against him, but I’m ready for the challenge," the 21-year-old Spanish tennis star added.

Medvedev, 28, is currently fifth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Rankings. In 2022, the top Russian racket spent sixteen weeks as the number one player in the world. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He won five of these 20 titles in 2023. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup as well as the ATP Cup playing for the Russian national team.

The 2024 ATP China Open is played on outdoor hard courts in Beijing between September 26 and October 2. The ATP-500 tennis tournament in the Chinese capital has $3.7 million in prize money up for grabs. Italy’s Jannik Sinner is the tournament’s reigning champion in men’s singles.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, 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 2022, 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, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

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

However, 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 only under a neutral status.