The first semi-final of the day pitted the tournament's number one seed, Daniil Medvedev of Russia, against the surprise of the day, Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden, who is also still in the doubles competition. With nothing to lose, Ebden, ranked 287th in the world, attacked with a vengeance and, while leading 3-2, had three break points on the Russian's serve, which he managed to save.
Then at 4-4 40 A, Ebden serves an ugly double, which this time gives the Russian a break point, his first in this semi-final. But the Australian defended it brilliantly and calmly with yet another service volley. Ebden did it again and saved a second break point two points later, thanks to a long rally punctuated by a direct error from Medvedev.
Three's a crowd? Not now. The third opportunity is the right one for the world number 3 (for 48 hours only before moving to number 2 on Monday). Medvedev pushes his opponent to the backhand and makes the break, before concluding this first set with a white game (6-4).
Mathew Ebden, who had to go to the physio for a groin problem, is now a shadow of his former self. The Australian was 3-0 down in the second set and was forced to retire.
Daniil Medvedev, who had never been beyond the quarter-finals in Marseille, finally has his final. He is now waiting to see who will be on the other side of the net on Sunday, Pierre-Hugues Herbert or Ugo Humbert.
