World Number 5 Russian Daniil Medvedev stormed into the semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters on Friday, beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman in straight sets.

In the process, Medvedev replaced Roger Federer at No.4 in the ATP men’s singles rankings.

Laying down the marker in the opening set, Medvedev broke the Argentine’s serve in the third game and had the better of the exchanges.

The Russian held his serve and stretched his lead to 5-3 before breaking Schwartzman again in the ninth game to close out the first set 6-3.

A telling piece of statistics which clearly showed who held the aces in the opening set, the Russian won 94% of points on his first serve to the Argentine’s 52%.

Breezy first set, emphatic second set for Medvedev

After breezing through the first set, Medvedev carried on in the same vein in the second, winning the opening game in a breeze. 

It was all Medvedev thereafter as the Russian broke the Argentine twice more, opening up a 5-1 lead. He closed out the match with an emphatic service game win.

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The eventual scoreline of 6-3, 6-1 bore testimony to the Russian’s dominance.

Schwartzman fails to book passage to ATP Tour Finals

The Argentine, who was  just one win away from making his first ATP World Tour Finals, tripped at the final hurdle.

Seeded third at the Masters, the World No.5 Russian made the last-eight after battling from a set down to beat speedy Australian Alex De Minaur.

Currently at the 25th spot in the ATP singles rankings, Minaur took the opening set 7-5 before the Russian came back strongly to win the next two 6-2, 6-2.

Speaking to reporters after booking his passage to the quarter final, Medvedev said, “It was a really difficult first set, I wasn’t playing bad, but he was also playing well.”

“I was up a break, but didn’t keep the momentum and he came back and was a little bit on fire,” the Russian said.

Medvedev was ahead in head-to-head battles with Schwartzman

Schwartzman, who came into the Masters in the quest of slotting into the main draw for the Nitto ATP Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena, recorded a handsome straight set win over Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Producing a near-flawless game, the Argentine stormed past a clueless Fokina 6-1, 6-1 to set up a last-eight clash with the third seed.

Medvedev went into Friday’s quarter-final holding a 3-0 advantage over Schwartzman in head-to-head battles. 

In their last meeting at the inaugural ATP Cup in January, the Russian recorded a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the ninth-ranked Argentine.