TennisNH

Medvedev Back On Track In Marseille, Sets Sinner Showdown

11-Mar-2021 17:22:00 | ATP World Tour

Daniil Medvedev got back on track Thursday in Marseille.

One week after an uncharacteristic performance in an opening-round loss in Rotterdam, the Russian star bounced back with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Egor Gerasimov to reach the quarter-finals of the Open 13 Provence.

"I think Egor is always a good player on indoor hard courts. I actually think it was not his best match, especially at the beginning of the first set. He was doing some mistakes, I took advantage of it, so that's what I have to do," Medvedev said in his on-court interview. "I have to focus on myself. I feel like I was playing well."

The top seed showed he was locked in from the first game, immediately breaking the Belarusian’s serve with a forehand return winner on the full stretch. Medvedev didn’t look back from there, extending his ATP Head2Head series lead against Gerasimov to 3-0 after 71 minutes.

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There will be a blockbuster clash in the last eight when Medvedev plays 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner. The Russian won their only previous ATP Head2Head match at this event last year, when he needed three sets against the Italian teen.

"He's a really strong player, so it's going to be an interesting match," Medvedev said. "That's a tough draw. I could definitely have an easier draw with playing Egor straight away and Jannik in the quarters. But it's also good to play if you're actually ready to win the tournament or not."

Regardless of his performance this week, Medvedev will climb to a career-high No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on Monday. The 25-year-old will be the first player outside of the Big Four — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray — to hold a spot in the top two since Nadal passed Lleyton Hewitt for World No. 2 on 25 July 2005.

Medvedev has now won 20 of his past 22 matches. The Russian began the year by leading his country to ATP Cup glory before reaching his second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. He is pursuing his first individual title of the season.

"It's time to build a new streak, a new dynamic. That's why tennis is sometimes good and sometimes bad. When you lose first round, you have next week to try to win the tournament. But when you win a lot of matches in a row, you can lose a few first rounds and then you are feeling like you're playing very bad," Medvedev said. "You always have to remember good moments. I know that I can play good indoors, for sure. It was a really good match today, so looking forward to tomorrow."

The top seed saved the only break point he faced against Gerasimov. Medvedev won a higher rate of second-serve points (65%) than the Belarusian did first-serve points (61%).

In other Marseille action, qualifier Arthur Rinderknech reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final. The World No. 138 defeated Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The Frenchman, who played college tennis for Texas A&M University, began the week without a tour-level win. But the 25-year-old Rinderknech has enjoyed the best tournament of his career, which he will continue when he plays fourth seed Ugo Humbert for a spot in the semi-finals.

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