Daniil Medvedev continued his winning run by defeating Frances Tiafoe to reach his first BNP Paribas Open final in Indian Wells.
The former world No 1 arrived in the Californian desert having won successive tournaments in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai and he has maintained that form impressively.
American Tiafoe saved seven match points in a spirited ending to the first semi-final but eventually fell to a 7-5, 7-6 (4) defeat as Medvedev made it 19 victories in a row.
The Russian, who hurt his ankle and thumb in falls in his last two matches, broke serve in the 11th game of the opening set, and looked well on his way to victory with another break to start the second.
Tiafoe, who knocked out Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals, was hanging on as he saved three match points serving at 3-5. That appeared to be delaying the inevitable but Medvedev tightened up and twice failed to serve it out, including from 40-0 at 6-5.
The crowd roared the American on, and he battled back from 1-5 down in the tie-break to 4-5 before Medvedev finally made it across the line.
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Medvedev will play the winner of the second semi-final, between top seed Carlos Alcaraz and 11th seed Jannik Sinner, which was taking place on Saturday night.
