On the morning of March 15, Moscow time, the quarterfinal matches of the Indian Wells Masters ended. The last to fight was the 2021 US Open champion, world number four, Daniil Medvedev. The Russian tennis player played with the Danish Holger Rune, 20 years old, seventh seed.
The history of the confrontation between Medvedev and Rune began only in 2023. But the opponents already had something to remember. The two previous matches were played on clay. In the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters, the Dane was stronger 6:3, 6:4. At the end of the match, Daniil, thanking his opponent for the game, first imitated Alexander Zverev’s cold handshake and then, smiling, said: “Well done. “It’s not fair, you played too well, you didn’t play fair.” Thus, Medvedev, who had no complaints about Rune, not only paid tribute to Holger’s skill, but also trolled Zverev in absentia. Read more about this in separate materials.
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In the final of the Rome Masters, Medvedev took revenge 7-5, 7-5. This is Daniil’s first and so far only title on clay. In the post-match press conference, Rune addressed his loss. “Today I served probably worse than in previous games. This is also an important factor because Medvedev loves to work. If he has the opportunity, they will be long rallies, as he sees, and today there were moments like that.
Obviously a good serve helps a lot against him. I couldn’t find it today. I tried to change everything, go a little to the side, attack. Again I didn’t feel it. I just tried to defuse the situation a little more, find solutions. I think he could have won the second set. But again Medvedev managed to counterattack. He fought for every point, no matter if I was ahead or him,” Holger said.
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And before the informative match, the Danish tennis player noted that Medvedev is not like many other players. “It will be an interesting match. We played with Daniil twice on clay courts. This will be our first meeting on hard mode. I am very excited. He is a great competitor. He’s not like many athletes on tour. He again has a strong serve, like Fritz. I will simply believe in myself and show my tennis,” Rune said at a press conference.
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In the first set, the rivals went for a long time without a break, although Medvedev missed a break point in the third game, and in the sixth, on the contrary, he came back from three break points. In the seventh game, the Russian took the other’s serve taking advantage of the Dane’s errors, but was unable to maintain the advantage. Holger managed to reverse the break 4:4. The finale was left in Daniel’s hands. In the eleventh game he again took the opponent’s serve and then put the set to zero: 7: 5 in 1 hour and 8 minutes. Rune was let down by a large number of unforced errors in this game: 27 to Medvedev’s 15.
At the beginning of the second set a conflict almost broke out. Rune landed a body shot on Medvedev, he didn’t like it, and he showed his opponent, like, look where you’re punching. The chair umpire notified Holger that he needed to apologize to Daniil. The Dane listened to the advice, the Russian accepted the apology.
Daniil Medvedev is not happy
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
The first two games of this game were left to Rune. Medvedev, who served in the second game, did not always act accurately in the rallies and the Dane broke down. But the next four games were won by the Russian, who not only restored the balance, but also took a 4-2 lead. Holger made mistakes most of the time and Daniil took advantage of it. The advantage gained was enough for Medvedev to win. Daniil, who served for the match with 5:4, fought back from 0:30 and took advantage of the first match point: 7:5, 6:4 in 2 hours.
Thus Medvedev reached the Indian Wells semifinals for the second consecutive time (and the second in his career). In 2023 he reached the final here, losing to Carlos Alcaraz. In the present semifinal his rival will be Tommy Paul (United States, 17), who defeated Casper Ruud (Norway, 9) by 6: 2, 1: 6, 6: 3.
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Medvedev has repeatedly complained about the conditions at Indian Wells, highlighting, in particular, that the hard court here is too slow. But if you look at the statistics, it turns out that this “Masters” can be considered one of Daniil’s favorites. Here he has already won 15 games, the same amount as in Cincinnati.
The matches won by Daniil Medvedev at the Masters
15Cincinnati, Indian Wells14Miami13Canada10Paris7Shanghai, Monte Carlo6Rome3Madrid
Of the rest of the quarterfinals, the meeting between Alexander Zverev (6) and Carlos Alcaraz (2) stands out. The tennis players played only two matches, after which the match had to be interrupted due to an invasion of bees that covered the cameras and equipment. The players hid, but one of the bees stung Alcaraz on the forehead.
Bees in the match between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
Bees in the match between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz
Photo: Frame of the transmission.
The forced pause was almost two hours. Despite the bite, the Spaniard scored a convincing victory and never allowed his opponent to face break points. Carlos himself broke his serve four times: once in the first set and three in the second. Alcaraz faced Zverev in just 1 hour and 19 minutes of play: 6:3, 6:1.
The match between Jiri Legechka (32) and Jannik Sinner (3) also did not cause a sensation. Throughout the match, Legecka only had one break point, but she failed to capitalize on it. Sinner won 6:3, 6:3. This is Yannick’s 19th consecutive victory (including last season). This year his record is 16-0.
The semi-final matches Medvedev – Paul and Alcaraz – Sinner will be played on Saturday, March 16. The Masters final in Indian Wells will take place on Sunday, March 17. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
