Wednesday Preview: Medvedev Meets Dimitrov, Turin Hopefuls In Pursuit
A maiden BNP Paribas Open quarter-final is on the line as top seed Daniil Medvedev looks to extend his blistering run on North American hard courts against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday. With Nitto ATP Finals spots up for grabs, Hubert Hurkacz, Casper Ruud, Aslan Karatsev and Jannik Sinner all look to boost their standing in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin.
In a showdown between last year’s Nitto ATP Finals winner and the 2017 champion, Medvedev enters his contest against Dimitrov with a 3-1 ATP Head2Head record, including a straight-sets result in their only meeting this season in the round of 16 in Cincinnati. Dimitrov’s sole victory came on grass at Queen’s Club back in 2017
But the Bulgarian has played himself back into form on Californian hard courts in recent weeks. He notched a first tour-level semi-final of 2021 last week in San Diego before his defeat of 16th seed Reilly Opelka sent him through to the fourth round for the first time in eight appearances at Indian Wells.
Medvedev arrived at Indian Wells with a 3-3 record, but has already bettered his best result with his third-round defeat of Filip Krajinovic, his 50th match win of the season. The US Open champion has won 18 of his past 19 matches on North American soil and 40 of his past 43 sets.
“I feel like I’m trying to play a little bit less… just playing the biggest tournaments, or the ones that will get me back into shape, so I’m really happy that I managed to get 50 [wins]. It means that I was doing pretty good in a lot of them,” Medvedev said.
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Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a three-set battle against former World No. 9 Fabio Fognini on Tuesday night to set a fourth-round clash against Australian Alex de Minaur. The Greek will carry a 5-0 ATP Head2Head record into the match with the 22nd seed, a straight-sets winner over Chilean 15th seed Cristian Garin.
Tsitsipas remained on course for a second ATP Masters 1000 trophy this season following his first in Monte-Carlo in April. De Minaur’s victory over Garin was his first over a Top 20 opponent this season and the first time he had won consecutive matches since he claimed his fifth career title at Eastbourne in June.
German Alexander Zverev has hit a rich vein of form since Wimbledon with runs to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and the Western & Southern Open title in Cincinnati. The third seed defeated Andy Murray for the first time to match his best run at Indian Wells in what was his 19th win from his past 20 matches.
Zverev is on the hunt for another first-time win when he takes on 14th seed Gael Monfils, a straight-sets winner over former World No. 5 Kevin Anderson. Monfils, who brings a 3-0 ATP Head2Head record into the match, is rediscovering his form following a run to the Sofia Open final last week.
His conqueror in that match, Italian Jannik Sinner, continues his bid for a maiden Nitto ATP Finals berth when he meets American 31st seed Taylor Fritz for the first time. Tenth in the FedEx Race To Turin, Sinner joins fellow contenders eighth-placed Casper Ruud, ninth-placed Hubert Hurkacz and 12th place Aslan Karatsev in action on Wednesday.
Miami Open champion Hurkacz looks to level a 0-1 ATP Head2Head record against 19th seed Karatsev, while Ruud chases a third straight win against 11th seed Diego Schwartzman after losing the pair’s first four ATP Head2Head encounters.
SCHEDULE – WEDNESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2021
STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – [11] D. Schwartzman (ARG) vs [6] C. Ruud (NOR)
ATP – [1] D. Medvedev (RUS) vs [23] G. Dimitrov (BUL)
Not Before 3:00 PM
WTA – [27] V. Azarenka (BLR) vs [19] J. Pegula (USA)
Not Before 6:00 PM
WTA – S. Rogers (USA) vs [24] J. Ostapenko (LAT)
ATP – [14] G. Monfils (FRA) vs [3] A. Zverev (GER)
STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – [19] A. Karatsev (RUS) vs [8] H. Hurkacz (POL)
ATP – T. Paul (USA) vs [21] C. Norrie (GBR)
ATP – [31] T. Fritz (USA) vs [10] J. Sinner (ITA)
Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – [22] A. de Minaur (AUS) vs [2] S. Tsitsipas (GRE)
ATP – [1] N. Mektic (CRO) / M. Pavic (CRO) vs [7] J. Peers (AUS) / F. Polasek (SVK)
STADIUM 3 start 1:00 pm
WTA – V. Kudermetova (RUS) / E. Rybakina (KAZ) vs M. Bouzkova (CZE) / L. Hradecka (CZE)
ATP – [29] N. Basilashvili (GEO) vs [24] K. Khachanov (RUS)
Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – [5] K. Krawietz (GER) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs T. Puetz (GER) / M. Venus (NZL)
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