Daniil Medvedev sends Felix Auger-Aliassime to final in Dubai | ATP tour | Tennis

Match report

Medvedev sends Auger-Aliassime, reaches Dubai final

Medvedev will face Rublev of Greek track in the final on Saturday
February 27, 2026

Is this the week that Daniil Medvedev finally wins a title for the first time in his career? The third seed cruised past third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 on Friday to reach the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Medvedev owns 22 tour-level titles and has earned each one at a different event. He gets the chance to change that on Saturday. The 2023 Dubai champion will face Andrey Rublev or Tallon Greek Spoor with the trophy on the line.

Medvedev arrived in his 10th career meeting with Auger-Aliassime in top form after beating Shang Juncheng, Stan Wawrinka and Jenson Brooksby in straight sets earlier this week. He controlled the baseline exchanges against Auger-Aliassime and struck with depth and precision to stump the Canadian and improve to 8-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“It’s been four great games, probably playing better and better every game, and today was the best performance,” Medvedev said. “If I can put in an even better performance tomorrow, I have my chances of winning and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

In a controlled performance, Medvedev seized the key moments. At 4-5, 30/40 in the first set, Auger-Aliassime missed a forehand wide to give Medvedev the opener. At 1-2 in the second set, the Canadian again sent a forehand long, giving Medvedev the break of service. The number 11 player in the PIF ATP Rankings closed the match in 82 minutes with a clean backhand winner.

Auger-Aliassime aimed to reach the title match in Dubai for the second season in a row. Earlier this month, the Canadian lifted the trophy in Montpellier. He now turns his focus to the BNP Paribas Open, the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

Medvedev is in his second final of the season after winning his 20th hard-court tour-level title in Brisbane in January. According to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, he is now 13-3 this year.