Two streaks ended for Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night time on the BNP Paribas Open, however not the one that actually mattered. When Ilya Ivashka gained the second set in opposition to the fifth seed, it ended Medvedev’s 18-set profitable run and his seven-set streak in opposition to the World No. 85.
But the four-time ATP Masters 1000 champion regrouped to safe a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 outcome, scoring his sixteenth straight victory to advance to the fourth spherical, the place he’ll meet Alexander Zverev. His progress to the final 16 matches his finest Indian Wells outcome from 2021.
The matchup in opposition to Zverev, the pair’s first ATP Head2Headvert assembly since Zverev’s victory within the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, will break a 6-6 tie within the sequence.
“I think our match could be a lot of rallies. Let’s see. It’s going to be interesting,” Medvedev previewed. “I really feel like he is enjoying higher and higher, which is regular after a troublesome damage. He’s somebody who was top-of-the-line gamers on Tour, going form of near World No. 1, began enjoying higher and higher in Grand Slams.
“His injury was unfortunate but I’m sure he’s going to come back. Hopefully next match I can be the winner and I can play some good tennis.”
It was enterprise as traditional at the beginning, with Medvedev breaking within the opening recreation of a simple first set. He broke once more to open the second set, just for Ivashka to interrupt again from 40/15 to spark a run of eight straight factors and flip the sensation on the stadium court docket.
Strong serving stored Medvedev within the set, however Ivashka was on prime within the many lengthy rallies as his opponent grew annoyed with what he felt had been gradual circumstances within the desert night time. A unfastened service recreation handed a break to Ivashka, who served out the set to like to power a decider.
“[In the] second set I don’t feel like I was playing bad,” Medvedev stated post-match. “It’s just that you hit 10 good shots in the rally and it could be not enough. That’s tough.”
Just when it appeared Medvedev had a battle on his arms, he rediscovered the shape that propelled him to titles in every of his previous three ATP Tour occasions (Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai). He raced to a 5-0 lead within the last set, locking in from the baseline to blunt Ivashka’s energy recreation, and served out the win after Ivashka averted a bagel with a 0/40 escape, finishing the job on his fifth match level.
Medvedev completed with eight aces and 6 double faults, these statistics underlining an up-and-down efficiency on the yr’s first ATP Masters 1000. But as champions do, he performed his finest when it mattered most.
Source web site: www.atptour.com
