'Better player' Medvedev into Marseille semifinals

Daniil Medvedev reached his first semifinal of the year at the Marseille Open on Friday by defeating Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets.

The former world No 1 from Russia came through 6-3, 6-2 in 78 minutes, saving five break points.

"I didn't start the match well, he had a lot of break points," said Medvedev, the 2021 champion in Marseille.

"I served good a couple of times. He made some mistakes. It's part of tennis. Then I managed to take control of the match and I feel like I was a little bit of a better player."

World No 8 Medvedev has endured a disappointing start to the season, suffering second-round exits at the Australian Open and Rotterdam.

"I played two good matches here, I didn't lose my serve," added Medvedev who will face Hamad Medjedovic for a place in Sunday's final.

Medjedovic, the world 96 from Serbia, defeated Germany's 80th-ranked Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 6-4.

Defending champion Ugo Humbert reached the semifinals for the fourth time by seeing off Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4.

The second-seeded Frenchman committed 29 unforced errors before securing his 150th tour-level victory.

On Saturday, Humbert will take on Belgium's Zizou Bergs who made the semifinals when China's Zhang Zhizhen was forced to retire after dropping the first set 7-5.