Former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev will face Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the ATP 500 final at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday, a year after the two players’ only previous meeting — an epic quarterfinal inside Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium that saw Griekspoor triumph after saving four match points. Part two promises plenty.

Griekspoor’s last-eight win over Medvedev in 2025 took him into the ATP 500 semi-final where his run was ended by eventual winner Stefanos Tsitsipas. On the same Centre Court on Friday night against the ever-popular Andrey Rublev, he looked determined to avenge last year’s loss — even if it meant reaching the final in pain.

A tense first set that offered minimal break inroads for either player saw World No. 25 Griekspoor struggling with his mobility after landing awkwardly. Yet his serve stayed with him; the Dutchman hit 11 aces on his way to going 6-5 up before requesting a medical timeout. No. 5 seed Rublev, amped, prowling, and patrolling the court in anticipation of his opponent’s re-emergence, appeared unsettled when play finally resumed. On cue, the World No. 18, a champion here in 2022, then dropped his service to hand Griekspoor a timely if controversial breakthrough.

Much of the second set proved a doppelganger of the first as both players rained down aces to hold six consecutive service games apiece. In the resulting tiebreak, Rublev dialled up the pressure and served for the set at 6-4, but the ever-determined Griekspoor refused to fold, producing the shot of the match, a forehand cross-court winner that cannoned past a shellshocked Rublev who could do little but smile in disbelief.

From there, Griekspoor hammered down two huge serves to set up his own match-point on the Rublev serve. When the Russian fired his opponent’s deep service return nonchalantly into the net, the victor fell to floor, his face a curious fusion of joy, pain, and relief. Watched on by UFC legend Khabib Nurmagometov in the VIP box, Griekspoor was bruised and debilitated, but ultimately triumphant: 7-5, 7-6 (6).

“I have no idea how I won that match, honestly,” said a limping Griekspoor, who has dropped only one set all week and eliminated No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik in the second round. “I was lucky and unlucky at the same time. I couldn’t really move in game four, but I kept trying, kept hitting my shots, and I got lucky in the end. No idea how I got it over the line. In the second set, I served extremely well and so did he, so I was very lucky in the tiebreak because if this was going to three sets, it would have been extremely hard for me.”

On the prospect of facing Medvedev in the final, the Dutchman added: “It’s not going to be any easier [than last year]. We played a crazy match. I was extremely lucky to beat him in a crazy rollercoaster. He’s been playing some unbelievable tennis. It looks like he’s getting back to his best, which is an extremely high level, so I am going to try to recover as good as possible, do everything I can, and hopefully I can get back out there.”

Medvedev, a champion here himself in 2023, had eased past No. 1 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the evening. Looking like a player aware of his 7-2 pre-match head-to-head record, the 30-year-old served exquisitely, played confidently from deep, and enjoyed consistency off both wings. Auger-Aliassime meanwhile had shown more aggression, trying to force his opponent’s hand with a variety of strokes — including a series of drop shots so delicate they drew early applause.

With the opening exchanges going with serve, it was the 10th game that proved pivotal; the only breakpoint of the set arriving in the form of a set-point. With Auger-Aliassime serving to tie the match 5-5, Medvedev’s return tempted the Canadian to blast a forehand crosscourt, which landed narrowly wide to end the first set.

Early in the second set, Auger-Aliassime’s drop shots became increasingly less effective as Medvedev closed up the court. Last year’s finalist sent another forehand long to see his service game broken again for 1-3. This time it appeared his belief also shattered as he failed to recover, his head dropping in tandem with missed shots he had executed so effortlessly under an hour earlier. The Canadian lost the next game to love, hitting three consecutive unforced errors and looking to his coach for solutions. There were none.

As Medvedev, ranked No. 11 in the world, closed the match out with a clean backhand winner, Auger-Aliassime said goodbye to the opportunity to become the first back-to-back Dubai finalist since Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2020. Instead, it is Medvedev who returns to the emirate’s championship match seeking to snap a somewhat remarkable record of having never won the same tournament more than once — 22 titles in 22 different cities.

“I find it very surprising that I’ve never won somewhere twice because now I, especially in later my career, tend to repeat the same tournaments,” Medvedev said. “I know what tournaments I like, and I just repeat them year in, year out. But I always said, ‘look, I tried’. Tomorrow I'll try to make it two somewhere. I will not be disappointed if the streak ends. It’s just going to feel great to win the tournament — it's not going to feel any more special. Just a bit of fun to finally win a second one somewhere.”

Making his sixth appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, he was asked why he continues to choose to return. “Probably the last three or four times I’ve played here, I’ve played good,” said the 2020 US Open champion. “Sure, last year I lost in the quarters, but it is still not the first round. It's a cool tournament because even if you lose first round, you're disappointed, but you can spend a week in Dubai and prepare for Indian Wells. The organisation of the tournament is great. I get to spend time with the family before the tournament, which is great as well. I just love it.”

When the two met last year in that epic quarterfinal, it ended with Medvedev smashing his racquet in frustration after Griekspoor battled to a 2-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 victory. The fans set to fill the stadium on Saturday night for the final time before construction works on expanding the 5,000-seat Centre Court by 40 per cent capacity, will be hoping for a match as equally as memorable, but much will depend on Griekspoor’s recovery.

“Daniil is an extremely good opponent,” Griekspoor, who limped heavily into his post-match news conference, said. “I will definitely need both of my legs when I play because he's going to use his legs.”

ALSO READ

• Rublev joins elite company to reach fifth semi-final at DDF Tennis Championships

• Tennis: Medvedev continues his march towards a landmark Dubai Duty Free title

• In Dubai, Medvedev chases the form that once defined him