Day of Daniil: Medvedev claims a crown of young masters | ATP Tour



[ad_1]

The month of August was dominated by Daniil Medvedev and the Russian now has a piece of silverware to show him. On Sunday, the Russian won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Western & Southern Open defeating David Goffin 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Medvedev took over his first Masters shield in Cincinnati, extending a dominant race that saw him reach three finals in three weeks. After reaching consecutive championships at the Citi Open in Washington (Kyrgios) and the Rogers Cup in Montreal (Nadal), Medvedev was the last man to be held in Cincinnati.

"It's hard to find words," Medvedev told Brad Gilbert of ESPN after the match. "It's the hard work I did, it would not be good to lose three finals in a row, so I'm really happy about that, I started having cramps at 5-3, actually. 'was the first time smothered in three weeks.I did four services, it did not come back and it was amazing.

The 23-year-old is one of the most prominent players on the planet and is well placed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Final in London. N ° 5 of his career in the ATP rankings, he will be the first Russian to be in the top five since Nikolay Davydenko in 2010. He is now leading the ATP Tour with 44 victories in this year's matches, including 31 on short courses. hard.

Match wins the leaders in 2019

One day after getting angry with defending champion Novak Djokovic, the Russian took advantage of the opportunity with an impressive performance against Goffin. He is the fifth player in his country to win an ATP Masters 1000 shield, joining Marat Safin (5), Davydenko (3), Andrei Chesnokov (2) and Karen Khachanov (1). Khachanov recently dominated in Paris last year.

In Saturday's semifinal, Medvedev reversed the script in the blink of an eye to outsmart Djokovic, using a hyper-aggressive game plan. Scheduled for an exemplary service strategy, he pulled himself together to reach the final. And here it would be almost the same as the game started at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

The Belgian has managed to bring into play only one of the first nine services of Medvedev. At his service, the 28-year-old struggled to adjust his opponent's basic rhythm. The Russian beat the score to 3-1 with a winner on the court.

But Goffin would tie the score for the 4 points with a pair of winners in reverse and reduce by a seven-minute break in the consolidation. Medvedev, who was playing his 18th match in 20 days, struggled to conserve his energy as the set progressed, but a striker pinned down saw him take a 5/2 lead in the decisive game. Two points later, he sealed the first match after 56 minutes.

Medvedev refused to concede in advance at the start of the second set. An immediate break in the opening match was all he needed to cross the finish line. The ninth seed kept her cool with everything she had to play, saving two break points when she served the title at 5-4. A frustrated Medvedev broke his racket armor at 15/40, but remarkably shot four consecutive monsters used to win. He hit a second serve at 123 mph to save the first break opportunity, followed by three consecutive aces to close it after one hour and 39 minutes.

The new Masters 1000 champions

Year Player Tournament won
2019 Daniil Medvedev
Cincinnati
2019 Fabio Fognini Monte Carlo
2019 Dominic Thiem Indian goods
2018 Karen Khachanov Paris
2018 John Isner Miami
2018 Juan Martin del Potro Indian goods
2017 Jack sock Paris
2017 Grigor Dimitrov Cincinnati
2017 Alexander Zverev Rome

Revenge was sweet for Medvedev, who fell to Goffin in a captivating game at Wimbledon last month. It goes to 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

This has been successful for players looking for their breakthrough in Masters 1000. For the third year in a row, there are at least three new Masters 1000 champions. Medvedev joins Dominic Thiem, titlist of Indian Wells, and Fabio Fognini, winner of the prize in Monte Carlo, as players to secure their first Masters in 2019.

By becoming the youngest champion in Cincinnati since Andy Murray, 21, in 2008, Medvedev adds a fifth title to the ATP Tour. It is his second year of the year, having reigned in Sofia in February.

Watch live

[ad_2]

Source link