"I like playing on hard courts; I'm playing great here so far" - Daniil Medvedev after reaching Los Cabos semifinals

Daniil Medvedev sounded happy with his game, especially on hardcourt, after he beat Ricardas Berankis on Thursday to reach the Los Cabos semifinals.

The World No. 1, playing his first hardcourt tournament in four months, dropped only four games against his Lithuanian opponent to reach his fifth semifinal of the year. After registering his 250th career match win on his Los Cabos debut a day ago, Medvedev was on the money against an aggressive opponent.

Analyzing his performance on the night, the Russian said that Berankis was a more formidable opponent than his opening-round opponent Rinky Hijtaka. Medvedev didn't lose serve all match but had to fend off two break points, eventually sealing victory with his eighth ace of the night.

"It was very different," Medvedev said. "My opponent (today) played very different, much more aggressive. To be honest, against that type of player sometimes you don't have much to do. Just try to serve well, bringing the balls back in the court. That's what I managed to do. He missed a little but too much today, and that was enough."

Despite playing competitively for the first time in more than a month, Medvedev was happy with his level of play. He admitted his fondness for playing on hardcourt as he looks forward to sterner battles ahead.

"I like playing on hard courts. I'm playing great here so far," Medvedev said of his confidence level. "Of course the further you go, the tougher the matches, the tougher the opponents, more pressure. But that's what we like, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Medvedev will take on fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic on Friday as he moves to within two wins of a first title of the year.

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Daniil Medvedev's 2022 season so far

Daniil Medvedev has had a decent season so far, winning 29 of his 39 matches, but has no title to show for his efforts.

He made a blistering start to his campaign, winning nine consecutive matches to reach the Australian Open final. However, the 25-year-old squandered a two-set lead against Rafael Nadal as he narrowly failed to become the first male player in the Open Era to win their first two Majors in back-to-back Grand Slams.

After reaching the second week at Roland Garros, where he lost to Marin Cilic, the World No. 1 made consecutive finals on grass - losing to Tim van Rijthoven in ’s-Hertogenbosch and Hubert Hurkacz in Halle.

The reigning US Open champion couldn't compete at Wimbledon, as the Championships barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from this year's tournament following Russia's Ukraine invasion.