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By Tennis Now | Friday, September 21, 2018

 
Roberto Bautista Agut

Roberto Bautista Agut carries a 3-0 career record vs. Dominic Thiem into the St. Petersburg semifinals.

Photo credit: St. Petersburg Open/Formula_TX Facebook

Dominic Thiem withstood a stiff St. Petersburg test today and will try to solve an ongoing problem tomorrow.

The top-seeded Thiem defeated Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (2), to advance to his fifth semifinal of the season.

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The Roland Garros finalist earned match point at 6-5 in the final set, but Medvedev issued a rousing response slamming three straight aces to force the tie break.

Thiem raised his record to an ATP-best 46-15. 



The 25-year-old Austrian pumped 10 aces beating Medvedev in their first meeting since their under-14 junior days.

"First of all, I am very sorry that I beat a Russian guy," Thiem said. "It was a great match from the beginning to the end. The first set was easier for me, the second one was easier for him and the third set was fifty-fifty. I couldn’t confirm the break and then it was a very close match, a tiebreak in the decider is always a matter of luck. So I am lucky that I won."



Aiming for his third title of the season and first hard-court championship in more than two years, Thiem will take on Roberto Bautista Agut for a spot in Sunday's final.

Bautista Agut did not surrender serve staving off both break points he faced in taming Marco Cecchinato, 7-6 (0), 6-3.



The fifth-seeded Spaniard is playing for his fourth final of the year. Bautista Agut opened the season defeating Juan Martin del Potro to win Auckland before sweeping Lucas Pouille in the Dubai final.

The flat-hitting Bautista Agut has won all three prior meetings vs. Thiem with all three meetings coming on hard court in 2015.

"So far I have no idea how to beat him," Thiem said. "We played three times in 2015 and he won all three matches. So I should put up something new. We often practice together, he is a really nice guy, so I am looking forward to facing him in a great semifinal."

Stan Wawrinka dethroned defending champion Damir Dzumhur, 6-3, 6-4, rolling into his second semifinal of the season.

Quick off the mark, Wawrinka caught up to a drop shot, covered the pass and knifed a backhand drop volley breaking for the second straight game for a 4-2 lead.

Wawrinka backed up the break with his fifth straight game extending his lead to 5-2.

The three-time Grand Slam champion served out the first set at 15.

The 33-year-old Swiss faces 2012 champion Martin Klizan for a trip to the finals.

In a battle of lefties, Klizan conquered Denis Shapovalov, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, after the Canadian served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.

The 65th-ranked Klizan raised his St. Petersburg record to 8-0.

 

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