Daniil Medvedev is one win away from clinching his first back-to-back title after cruising past top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Dubai final on Friday.

The former world number one, who has 22 career titles, has never won the same tournament twice—an oddity he now has a chance to correct in Dubai, where he lifted the trophy in 2023.

Medvedev produced a near-flawless performance to improve his head-to-head record against Auger-Aliassime to 8-2. In the final, he will face either fellow Russian Andrey Rublev or Dutch world No. 25 Tallon Griekspoor.

“If you give me some fast courts like they were before, maybe I can do something like this, but there aren’t many courts like this on the tour anymore,” Medvedev said. “I’m happy with my level and everything, looking forward to the final.”

The semi-final began evenly, with the first nine games closely contested. A perfectly executed lob from Medvedev earned him a set point on Auger-Aliassime’s serve, which he converted after a 24-shot rally to take the first set in 44 minutes.

Medvedev maintained pressure in the second set, breaking in game four to lead 4-1 and never looked back, sealing the victory in one hour and 23 minutes.

“What was in the past doesn’t matter, what matters is right now. And right now, I played probably better and better with every match, today being my best performance,” Medvedev added. “If I can put on an even better performance tomorrow, I have my chances to win, but my opponent will be strong, of course.”

Auger-Aliassime had been aiming for his third final in four weeks, after defending his Montpellier title and finishing runner-up in Rotterdam. The Canadian, ranked world No. 8, lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in last year’s Dubai final and was hoping to go one better this time.