Medvedev eases into China Open final, Sabalenka goes through

BEIJING: Daniil Medvedev hailed his "perfect" serve as he eased into the men´s final of the China Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Alexander Zverev in Beijing on Tuesday.

The world number three faces a showdown on Wednesday with either Italy´s Jannik Sinner or second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz -- the tournament favourite in the absence of tennis legend Novak Djokovic.

The semi-final got off to a close-fought start but Medvedev then notched a crucial break of serve and managed to see out the first set. It was a similar story in the second set, with the Russian breaking for 5-3 and serving out the match with a pair of fierce aces. "Today was a perfect service match. I don´t think there was one bad thing I can say about my serve," Medvedev said at a post-match news conference.

The top-ranked women´s player Aryna Sabalenka said her performances in "key moments" were crucial to surviving a major scare in the second round, after she defeated unseeded Katie Boulter 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) in Beijing. Sabalenka saved seven break points at 5-5 and then forced the stubborn Briton, ranked 56th in the world, into a rare backhand error to clinch the opening set. The Belarusian notched another must-win break in the second set to again draw level at 5-5 before triumphing in a tie-break by slamming down an unreturned serve.