Daniil Medvedev will face Alexander Zverev in the final four at the Halle Open after their respective quarter-final victories on Friday.
Halle Open 2025: Daniil Medvedev defeated Alex Michelsen in straight sets in the quarter-final, while Alexander Zverev beat Lorenzo Sonego
Daniil Medvedev will face Alexander Zverev in the final four at the Halle Open after their respective quarter-final victories on Friday.
Medvedev, who is searching for the 21st ATP title of his career, cruised past American Alex Michelsen in straight sets, earning a 6-4 6-3 victory in one hour and 25 minutes.
Despite a nosebleed issue and a medical timeout in the first set, Medvedev controlled proceedings throughout, but was made to work to grab the early breakthrough.
Michelsen was able to save two break points in the opening set, but was unable to withstand his opponents' pressure as a crucial break in the 10th game proved decisive.
The former world number one secured a break in the fourth game of the second after a wayward shot from Michelsen opened the door to a comfortable passage in double-quick time.
Michelsen served to stay in the match at 5-2 down and defended four match points, but Medvedev sealed the win with a service winner, on his seventh match point to progress to the semi-finals.
Later in the day, home hope Zverev reached his sixth semi-final in Halle with a hard-fought win over Lorenzo Sonego to pick up another victory at the tournament.
The German is the highest-ranked seed left in the competition after Jannik Sinner was beaten by Alexander Bublik, and emerged a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) victor against Sonego.
Zverev had to rush from the court for an impromptu toilet break due to illness in the second game of the opening set, but was able to continue and saw out the victory.
"I felt fine before the match, and then out of nowhere I felt really, really bad and felt ill," explained Zverev. "I went to throw up, and then 15 minutes later, I felt okay again.
"So I don't know what it was. I've never experienced that before, to be honest. Hopefully, I will be fine the next couple of hours, when the adrenaline settles."
Data Debrief: Zverev continues to fly the flag
Zverev is now 21-8 in Halle, where he reached the championship match in 2016 and 2017, but lost to both Florian Mayer and Roger Federer.
He is also just the fifth player to reach five or more semi-finals at the event, after former champions Federer, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Tommy Haas.
Zverev will want to earn his first title at the event but faces a stern test against Medvedev. He has a record of 7-12 in his meetings with the Russian.
The pair last locked horns at the Australian Open semi-finals in 2024, with Medvedev picking up his third-straight victory against Zverev. Indeed, the third seed in Halle has won six of the last seven matches against the world number three.