Adelaide (TIP)- Novak Djokovic beat Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-4 at the Adelaide International on Friday, January 6,  to set up a semifinal with Daniil Medvedev. The combined ATP-WTA event is a warmup for this year’s Australian Open, which the top-seeded Djokovic missed last year after being barred from the country because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. “Early on he was a better player. He was dictating,” said 35-year-old Serb Djokovic after improving to 8-0 against his Canadian opponent.

“(Then) I started finding my serve and my groove on the court.”

The 21-time Grand Slam winner, who is preparing for a shot at a 10th Australian Open title, will face third-seeded Medvedev on Saturday. “I don’t think there’s going to be too many short points tomorrow unless we both serve well,” Djokovic said. “Normally when you play Daniil, you have to be ready to go the distance, physically, mentally, game-wise.”

Medvedev, the runner-up last year to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open, defeated fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-3 on Friday.

“It’s never easy to play your compatriot,” Medvedev said. “I’m happy that I managed to really raise my level, especially in the end of both sets, and really happy to be through to the semis.”

Source: AP