After missing the first round due to a high ranking, Medvedev beat Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets to advance to the third round where another Italian, Lorenzo Musetti, awaited him. The first set was quite routine, with the Russian dictating the game and winning the set with just one break.
Medvedev took an early lead with a break in the second set. Then Musetti showed signs of struggle, winning two games in a row and leveling the score. Then the Russian paused again and stepped forward. And this time he kept the lead and won the match 6-4, 6-4.
De Minaur knocked out Cameron Norrie and Gabriel Diallo to face world No. 9 Taylor Fritz in the third round. The Aussie started weak, losing 1-5 in the first set. However, he then made an incredible comeback, salvaged some set points and leveled the score. And then he won the tie-break.
Fritz won the second set and tied the score, but his level of play dropped significantly in the deciding set. De Minaur lost just one game in the third set and won the match 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-1.
Medvedev leads in the confrontation with De Minaur with the score 4:1. The Australian won the previous meeting of the 2022 Paris Masters in three sets.
The Russian easily handled Musetti and reached his seventh quarter-final on hard courts this season. Although he scored 82% in the first set, he was a little vulnerable in the second and also committed five double faults. The Russian also won most of the long rallies with the exchange of blows.
De Minaura’s flawless defense helped him earn a memorable win over Fritz. He has now reached his first quarter-final at the Masters 1000 level, five years after first competing in one.
Although de Minaur broke his losing streak and scored his first victory against Medvedev last year, he is unlikely to repeat the feat. The Russian has won 26 of his last 27 hard-court games and his only loss came to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells Masters final.
Considering Medvedev’s brilliant performance on hard court this season, it’s hard to imagine De Minaur getting the better of him this time around.
Forecast: Daniil Medvedev will win in straight sets.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
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I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
