Medvedev seals Russia’s victory over Germany in the Davis Cup semi-finals

Daniil Medvedev had just put Russia in the Davis Cup final by sealing the victory from Germany when he turned onto the stands at the Madrid Arena and began to repeatedly show a hard field under his feet.

He was here to stay in Madrid for another day to lead Russia against Croatia in the most prestigious team trophy in men’s tennis.

There was a lot of laughter from German fans and neutral Spaniards, but the world-ranked player wasn’t bothered. In fact, he laid them down and defiantly slapped his leg before pumping his fists to the Russian crowd to suck his victory.

Medvedev said it was just a way for his team to celebrate and emulate other team sports, such as football, where the “stay calm” gesture has become popular. And if the audience took it wrong, so be it.

“We have a joke on the team when we practice or play cards, I’ve seen football players like Cristiano (Ronaldo) do it, we say‘ calm, calm, calm, ’” Medvedev said. “So I decided to celebrate like this and everyone started whistling … I’m just really glad we still managed to be here on Sunday. “

Medvedev ousted Jan-Lennard Struff aside 6-4, 6-4 to seal Russia’s victory on Saturday as Andrei Rublev defeated Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-0 in the opening season.

Germany won the doubles as Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz defeated Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and finished 2-1.

Croatia is waiting for Russia after dropping Novak Djokovic from Serbia on Friday. Russia and Croatia are aiming for the third Davis Cup championship.

“Croatia is a very strong team, it’s always been in the Davis Cup,” Medvedev said. “I don’t expect anything easy, so we have to play our best to have a chance to win.”

Medvedev is advancing to the final, where he should face Croatia’s number one Marin Cilic when he didn’t drop a single in the tournament.

Four players ranked in the top 30, so Russia favored the German team playing without star Alexander Zverev.

The reigning US Open champion had little difficulty commanding the pass against Struff, and it only seemed when he might run into a German mistake.

Struff hung tight with Medvedev until he dug himself into a 0-40 hole situation in the 4-4 first set. He saved two folding balls before sending an approach shot to the net to stay behind. Medvedev then kept his pass easy and took the lead in one batch.

Medvedev weighed his advantage at home after taking a break in the second set 3-2.

Fifth-placed Rublev had shown weakness in the past week. He lost to 40-year-old Spanish Feliciano López and had to play three sets to defeat Roberto Quiroz of Ecuador and Elias Ymer of Sweden.

It only took 50 minutes to get to Koepfer.

Rublev hit six aces to ease the lead. Koepfer quickly faded, giving up breaks in the second set of his three service games as Rublev cruise to victory.

The Russian team is officially in the middle of an ongoing ban on doping in international sports called RTF (Russian Tennis Federation).

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