Three weeks. Thee finals. One title.
That is the wrap on Danill Medvedev’s pre-U.S. Open hard-court summer, which culminated with a title at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday afternoon. Medvedev lifted his first Masters 1000 trophy after defeating fellow surprise finalist David Goffin 7-6(3), 6-4 in one hour and 39 minutes.
The world No. 8, who moves up to fifth in the ATP rankings on Monday, was coming off consecutive runner-up performances in Washington, D.C. and Montreal. In Cincinnati, the third time was the charm. Medvedev, an upset winner over Novak Djokovic in the semis, continued to serve huge–holding 10 of 11 games, firing 10 aces, and winning 90 percent of his first-serve points.
Goffin’s last chance came with his opponent serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set. The 19th-ranked Belgian led 15-40, but Medvedev came up with some clutch serves to dig out of that hole and take the final four points.
“It’s hard to find words,” the 23-year-old Russian said. “It’s the hard work I’ve been putting in. It would not be good to lose three finals in a row, so I’m really happy about this. I started cramping at 5-3, actually. It was the first time I cramped in three weeks. I made four serves he didn’t return and it was unbelievable.”
“He played unbelievable the last three weeks,” Goffin praised. “He’s super solid. He doesn’t miss. It’s like playing against a wall. That’s why everybody is struggling, because he’s so consistent, now with more confidence. He’s a really good player, really good player. And on that kind of surface when it’s tough to control the ball, he’s just solid. It’s tough to make a winner, to be precise. He’s really good, unbelievable the level he had the last three weeks. Congrats to him.”
Medvedev agreed.
[polldaddy poll=10388741]
nice one, Med
“The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming!”
Will the Russians conquer the East Coast within the next three weeks? Well, unless they come with a submarine, as in Norman Jewison’s comedy from 1966, probably not this year, although with Khachanov there’s now another tall Russian with a lot of fire power in the top ten. And a healthy Rublev has some potential, too. But there’s still a trio of old geezers sitting comfortably on top of the most precious trophies, and they don’t seem to be inclined to go peacefully into the sunset just yet!☺
But Medvedev’s summer hardcourt campaign is very impressive, and if he stays healthy and keeps improving, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to sustain his recent successes. His mental stability is already very impressive. We have to see, though, how much he has left in the tank for the USO, which will of course be an altogether different animal. Interestingly he lost his last best-of-five match in Wimby in five sets against Goffin, the same rather short (but smart) guy, whom he beat handily yesterday, although Medvedev was physically quite exhausted. And at the FO he also lost in five sets to P-H Herbert. This indicates that he still has to learn how to be successful at the slams. But the co-competitors in his age group haven’t figured that out, yet, either. Only Thiem managed over several consecutive years now to go deep at certain slams.
It will be very interesting to see who will be the first to finally conquer the slams. At the end of 2018 most experts thought that another equally tall guy with Russian roots, Sascha Zverev, would finally be able to make a breakthrough at the slams. But right now Zverev is in a prolongued slump and Medvedev looks more promissing. He is now the first Russian in the Top 5 since Yevgeni Kafelnikov*, and that was ages ago. When Kafelnikov (inducted into the Tennis HoF this year) won his first slam trophy in Paris (beating Michael Stich), Medvedev was only a couple of weeks old. Kafelnikov won an AO title three years later and was for 5 weeks on top of the rankings. Medvedev could be the first Russian player since Kafelnikov who may have the potential to become equally successful. And shouldn’t the Russians be able to come up with a formidable Davis Cup team??
*Is that correct or have I forgotten another successful Russian player after Kafelnikov who managed to stay in the top ten for a while?
Speaking of roots, S.Tsitsipas also has Russian roots. His mother is former Soviet tennis player Julia Salnikova (born in Moscow). She married to Greek tennis coach Apostolos Tsitsipas and played under the flag of Greece from 1990 until 1992. Her current name is Julia Apostoli.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Apostoli
This Russian is one of my ATP favorites: 21 titles and top 3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Davydenko
Of course there’s also favorites, Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny – (I think Youzhny was top ten for awhile .
Medvedev – I’m still not a fan.
Many WTA Russian favorites too.
I guessed wrong. Youzhny was not top ten, according to wiki. Could have sworn he was, lol. I loved watching his mad skills. Davydenko tennis was absolutely brilliant IMO.
correction! The Colonel did make top ten!! (need better glasses) I’m not sure how long he was there. Marat Safin was #1. Again not sure for how long. But these Russians: Davydenko, Safin, and Youzhny are unforgettable imo.
Not as impressed with Khachanov tennis yet, although he seems humble and I do root for him to improve. Rublev is still questionable.
Svetlana Kuznetsova is one of the best athletes to watch on tour – Nice to see her back in the Cincy final. And I love Dasha Kasatkina and hope she starts climbing the ranks again.
There was Safin and there was Davydenko! How can you forget them, and esp Davydenko (who is one of my fave players) who’s able to beat the big three when he’s playing in the zone.
Safin won two slams and Davy won the WTF in 2009; Safin was ranked no.1 at some point in his career and Davy’s highest ranking was no.3.
Many of the young players are somehow related to Russia – Medvedev, Khachanov, Rublev are Russians; Sasha has both his parents from Russia but are now settled in Germany; Tsitsipas’s mum is from Russia, a former tennis player herself; and Shapo’s mum is from Russia too. Shapo was born in Israel and then the family migrated to Canada.
Congrats to Med…a great 3 weeks!