After the third seed in Cincinnati confidently overcame the first barrier in the person of Lorenzo Musetti, giving the Italian just five games, it might have seemed to many that Daniil Medvedev’s path in the tournament would be a long one. But further down the path of Russia’s first racket was a man who has something to prove to the fans.
Alexander Zverev received a terrible injury on the court last year and, by his own admission, for a long time he could not even walk normally. But over the course of the current season, the German passport holder gradually took shape, along the way regaining positions in the standings lost due to forced downtime.
Zverev entered Cincinnati as the 16th seed. And by the time of the meeting with Medvedev, he had already outplayed two rivals. Alexander alternately eliminated the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.
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Resistance test
As a result, the audience on the Tribune court saw a real tennis battle. Daniel’s nerves failed him at first. In the seventh game, he allowed the opponent to go to break points, and in the next draw he double-faulted. After such a gift, it was a technical matter for Zverev in his current state to complete the game in his favor.
In the second set, Medvedev recovered, and in a very offensive way for the German tennis player. Playing twelve games and not reaching a tiebreaker is one of the biggest disappointments that can happen to a professional tennis player. Daniil took Alexander’s last serve of the game and left him behind.
And in the third set, the Russian tennis player was frankly unlucky. In the eighth game, Medvedev started a serious fight at the reception and missed several opportunities to take a decisive step towards the final victory. Zverev survived, took Daniil’s serve and with him the game. And now in the quarterfinals, Alexander will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
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there is no cause for concern
Despite the loss, Daniil Medvedev’s performance at the upcoming US Open still does not raise serious concerns. Unlike his compatriot Andrei Rublev, who, after the triumph in Bostad, does not look like himself and has not yet won a single hard match, the best tennis player in Russia at the moment is in perfect order. Failed matches happen to everyone, even more, we must not forget how motivated Alexander Zverev is now. Of course, the relegation in the third round is not the most pleasant graph in Daniil’s record. But at the US Open, it is very likely that he will be among the contenders for the trophy.
In order for Medvedev’s award collection to be regularly replenished with the most prestigious awards in world tennis, he just needs to work on psychological stability. Some of his losses are hard to explain by anything other than total collapse. Daniil already has everything else to repeat the success of the 2021 model.
