Daniil Medvedev, current champion in Rome, achieves 100 victories in the Masters 1000 | ATP Tour

Roma

Medvedev, current champion in Rome, achieves 100 victories in the Masters 1000

The second favorite will face Medjedovic

May 11, 2024

Daniil Medvedev began the defense of his title this Saturday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where he signed victory No. 100 of his career in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament against Jack Draper 7-5, 6-4.

“It wasn’t easy,” acknowledged Medvedev, who committed 18 unforced errors compared to the Briton’s 30. “I feel that the conditions are completely different from last year and also from Monte Carlo or Madrid.”

“Very slow and heavy, so I sincerely feel that it is difficult to make a winner and that is what I have seen in the rest of the matches. You need to work your opponent from left to right and vice versa, and you and your opponent get tired. “I knew it before the match, so I’m happy I was the strongest.”

Although he closed out the victory in one hour and 47 minutes in just two sets, it was not Medvedev’s most impressive day. In the first set he hit 39% on his first serve, according to Infosys ATP statistics. However, he had to serve twice to close the first set. He did it at 5-4 and, later, at 6-5.

The 2023 champion in Rome found his best level as the match progressed. Specifically in the second set, when he linked 14 consecutive points that raised a score impossible for Draper to recover.

And the British tried to recover from 5-2 to 5-4, but Medvedev did not miss the opportunity. “It was good that he managed to put me ahead,” he said about the second set. “Although he improved later, it was enough to have that margin. “I am quite happy with my level.”

Medvedev, already sporting a 23-6 record this season, was unable to finish his quarterfinal match against Jiri Lehecka last week in Madrid due to a right leg problem that appears to have been left behind.

“I’ve done a good job with my team to be ready. I knew two or three days ago that I was feeling better and better,” she warned. “Two days before the tournament, I was 100% in training, so I wasn’t worried, but it’s good to play a match and be more confident that you can do it and you’re not in pain.”

Medvedev, who only dropped one set in Rome last year on his way to his only clay court crown, aims to defend a title for the first time in his career, having won 20 trophies.

The six-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will face Hamad Medjedovic, last year’s champion of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, in the third round. The 20-year-old Serbian stunned No. 30 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(4), 6-4.