Medvedev First Qualifier To Reach Tokyo Final Since 2002

Russian Daniil Medvedev became the first qualifier to make the final in Tokyo in 16 years on Saturday, as the 22-year-old ousted #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-3 to reach the championship match at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018.

"I like to play qualies if I don’t lose them," Medvedev said, smiling. " "It helps me a lot if I manage to go through because here in the final round of qualifying, I almost lost to a great player, my friend from Belarus. And if I lost, I wouldn’t be in the final. Finally it helped me to get into the tournament and be ready for the main draw."

Medvedev remains undefeated in tour-level semi-finals in 2018, moving to 3-0. In Sydney and Winston-Salem, the 2017 Next Gen ATP Final qualifier went on to capture his first two ATP World Tour titles. If he can defeat two-time champion Kei Nishikori or No. 8 seed Richard Gasquet in Sunday’s final, Medvedev is projected to become the No. 1 Russian in the ATP Rankings for the first time. In St. Petersburg, Medvedev was asked about the possibility of passing compatriot Karen Khachanov this year.

"I said in one interview, kind of as a joke, my goal is to go higher than Karen at the end of the year. I was a bit far in the points in this moment. I’m only one win away from beating him at this moment, so it’s just a good feeling when we are two friends like this and we are at the top going up and we can compete like this," Medvedev said. "We don’t talk about competitive stuff, but I know he doesn’t want me to pass him."

This week last year, Medvedev was World No. 64, and mired in the middle of an eight-match losing streak. But he has come on strong, with his only set lost this week coming in the second round of qualifying. The last qualifier to reach the final in Japan was Magnus Norman (l. to Carlsen) in 2002.

And not only that, but Medvedev has already won a title as a qualifier this year, doing so in Sydney. There have been a record seven qualifiers to triumph on the ATP World Tour in 2018, and he is now the highest-ranked of the pack at No. 32. If the Monaco resident is victorious in straight sets on Sunday, it will be the second time this year he has lifted a trophy without dropping a set in the main draw (also Winston-Salem).

Entering the semi-final, Shapovalov had won both of the pair's FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. But if Medvedev maintains the form he displayed in his 63-minute victory against the Canadian, there's no reason to think he can't come out on top in the final. The Russian saved the only break point he faced, and has now held serve in 36 of 40 service games this week. Medvedev did especially well to limit Shapovalov to just 63 per cent of first-serve points won, breaking in the teenager's second service game and never looking back.

"Denis is a great player and sometimes in tennis, nobody can win all the tournaments. Sometimes you lose to someone, sometimes you beat somebody," Medvedev said. "I managed to show a really good level today, good serve. I managed to break him, so I came out on top."

It was still a strong week for Shapovalov, who was trying to make his maiden tour-level final and become the first teenager to compete for the championship in Tokyo since Michael Chang (19) 27 years ago. The 19-year-old left-hander is still in strong position to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the second year in a row, sitting at No. 3 in the ATP Race To Milan.