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Medvedev, who has described himself as a "hard
court specialist", had never won a match in Rome before this
year's tournament but has produced some of his best tennis to
reach the last four on clay for the first time since Monte Carlo
in 2019.
"I am feeling great," Medvedev said. "I said before the
tournament I was feeling really great in practice. "It is always
a danger to say this if you lose the first round and you think,
'Why did I say this'. But I am proving it."
Medvedev soaked up Hanfmann's powerful hitting and controlled
the baseline exchanges, dominating with his big first serve to
wrap up the win in an hour and 20 minutes.
"He was struggling more than me and I am happy with the win and
being in the semis," Medvedev said of Hanfmann, who upset Monte
Carlo champion Andrey Rublev and ninth seed Taylor Fritz to
reach the last eight.
"I knew I had to put as many balls into the court as possible
because he plays aggressively. Maybe he didn't play his best
match but that is how it works... I am happy I could neutralise
his attacking style."
Medvedev will meet world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas who
triumphed over Borna Coric with a commanding 6-3, 6-4 win later
in the evening.
"He's been playing well and I'm playing [well] also," Tsitsipas
said on court on the upcoming clash against Medvedev. "I feel
good on court, regardless if it's a night session or a day
session and I really hope to bring the best out of me against
him.
"I feel like he's playing better than the years before."
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad and Tommy Lund in
Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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