CINCINNATI: Top-ranked Daniil Medvedev committed 11 double-faults in falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters.

Medvedev helped seal his own fate in the sixth game of the final set as he double-faulted four times to hand his Greek opponent to a 4-2 lead.

Tsitsipas will play for the title against Croatian Borna Coric, who returned to an ATP Masters final for the first time in four years by defeating Britain`s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4.

Tsitsipas won only his third match against Medvedev after losing seven and also defeated a reigning number one player for only the second time in 12 career attempts.

The fourth seed put a winner into the corner on the first of three match points to earn the final.

World number 152 Coric, who missed a year of play with shoulder problems and only returned to the tour in March, advanced in 91 minutes in a match delayed for hours by an afternoon of rain.

Coric is the second-lowest-rated finalist since the rankings began in 1973, with number 191 Andrei Pavel setting that standard as he played for the Roland Garros title in 2003.

Coric got past a slow start marred by 14 unforcederrors in the first six games, settling in to lift the levelofhis tennis.

The Croat, who lost a Masters final at Shanghai in 2018 to Novak Djokovic, limited Norrie to nine winners while sending over 17 along with 24 unforced errors.

In the women`s semifinals, French qualifier Caroline Garcia survived two rain breaks and advanced to the final by defeating Aryna Sabalenl(a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Garcia will play for the title against Czech Petra Kvitova, who constructed a 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-3 comeback triumph over American Madison Keys.

Garcia is the first qualifier to ever reach the championship match at a Masters tournament.

Kvitova, a two-timeWimbledon winner who played the semi-finals in 2012 and 2018, will be aiming for her 30th career title in her first Cincinnati final.

Garcia maintained control over sixth seed Sabalenka in their contest, where the weather interruptions totalled four hours. She broke six times in a match comprising two hours of actual play.

The pair returned after the second interruption and played out three more games as Garcia finished off the victory.

The 32-year-old Kvitova, who needed two hours and 20 minutes to eliminate Keys, will make a return to the ranking top-20 after finishing with 24 winners and 16 unforced errors.-AFP