Daniil Medvedev reaches final of ATP tournament in Vienna

Daniil Medvedev will face Denis Shapovalov on Sunday. (AFP)
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Updated 30 October 2022
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Daniil Medvedev reaches final of ATP tournament in Vienna

  • Medvedev is edging closer to securing his place at the ATP Finals which get underway in Turin on Nov. 13

VIENNA: Daniil Medvedev made short work of his last-four match against Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to reach the final of the ATP tournament in Vienna.

The former world No. 1 did not face a single break point in a dominant 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Medvedev will face Denis Shapovalov on Sunday as he bids to win his second title of the season.

The Russian’s only tournament success this year came in an ATP 250 event in Mexico in August, which ended a run of five straight final defeats.

“There were a few moments in the match where I thought I should have done just a little bit better, to go in front earlier and try to build the pressure earlier,” said Medvedev.

“Then I managed to stay consistent and, in the most important points, managed to raise my level. That was enough today, and I’m really happy with my level.”

He had lost his previous meeting with Dimitrov at Indian Wells last year but had no such problems this time around, securing victory by winning the last five games of the match.

Medvedev is edging closer to securing his place at the ATP Finals which get underway in Turin on Nov. 13.

The 26-year-old, who won the season-ending event in 2020, sits fifth in the standings.

Canadian Shapovalov reached his second final of the month, after losing the Korea Open title match to Yoshihito Nishioka, by downing the in-form Borna Coric 7-6 (7/4), 6-0.

Shapovalov, who still has not won an ATP tournament since his first title in 2019, has won two of his five meetings with Medvedev, but lost the last three.

The 23-year-old edged a tight opening set in a tie-break, but Cincinnati Masters champion Coric fell away in the second as Shapovalov romped into the final.


Africa Cup of Nations moved to every four years

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Africa Cup of Nations moved to every four years

  • The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957

RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations will in future be held every four years instead of every two years, the Confederation ​of African Football said on Saturday.
The surprise decision was made at the body’s executive committee meeting in the Moroccan capital and announced at a press conference by CAF President Patrice Motsepe.
The tournament, which brings in an estimated 80 percent of CAF’s revenue, has traditionally been held every two years since its inception in 1957.
Sunday marks the start of the ‌35th edition, ‌hosted in Morocco with the home ‌team ⁠taking ​on ‌Comoros.
Motsepe said the next Cup of Nations finals, scheduled for 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, will go ahead and then another tournament would be held in 2028 but after that it will be hosted every four years.
Motsepe announced the launch of an African Nations League annually from 2029 to fill the ⁠gap, following the example of Europe which holds its championship every four years.
“Historically ‌the Nations Cup was the prime ‍resource for us but now ‍we will get financial resources every year,” he said.
“It ‍is an exciting new structure which will contribute to sustainable financial independence and ensure more synchronization with the FIFA calendar.”
Holding the Cup of Nations every four years had been previously proposed by FIFA ​President Gianni Infantino but this had been rebuffed by CAF because of their reliance on the revenues ⁠that the tournament generates.
The timing of AFCON has long courted controversy because it has usually been hosted in the middle of the European season, forcing clubs to release their African players.
This tug of loyalty was supposed to be solved by moving the Cup of Nations to mid-year from 2019 but later tournaments in Cameroon in 2022 and Ivory Coast in 2024 were again hosted at the start of the year.
This year’s tournament in Morocco was moved back six months when FIFA introduced ‌a new-look Club World Cup, which was hosted in the US in June and July.