WATCH: Daniil Medvedev doesn’t want to play on Clay anymore
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Daniil Medvedev
World No.3 Daniil Medvedev was taken down the distance in his second round match at the Madrid Masters. The Russian came from a set down to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 4-6,6-4,6-2 in two hours and 13 minutes
In the process, he broke a six-match tour-level losing streak on clay. Medvedev is in tremendous form this season. He is on a 18-3 match record in 2021 and will next face a tough challenge from Chilean No. 16 seed Cristian Garin.
Medvedev shared his thoughts after the match: “I am happy with the win. The first set wasn’t easy and I thought it was going to be where I had another 25 break points and I wouldn’t win. I finally played quite well and did well in the third set. I think Madrid is a little faster than other clay tournaments, so better for my game.”
Medvedev’s love-hate relationship with Clay
Daniil Medvedev has many times admitted that he doesn’t like playing on Clay. And it was evident after he lost the first set to Fokina. On his chair, Medvedev shouted in frustration, “I don’t want to play here on this surface“.
Although he held his nerve after this mini breakdown, winning the next two sets comfortably to close out the match. Medvedev also has a chance to claim the No.1 ranking if he performs well over the next two weeks.
If Medvedev wins either at Madrid or Rome and reaches the semi-final of the other, and Novak Djokovic doesn’t make the Rome final, the Russian will become the World No.1 on 17th May.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)