After Hiccup, Medvedev Powers Home In Paris
Daniil Medvedev was forced to work harder than he wanted Wednesday night in Paris, squandering a commanding first-set lead before steadying to defeat Ilya Ivashka at the Rolex Paris Masters.
The defending champion had three set points and a 5-1 lead before allowing the Belarusian to claw back to even terms in the opening set at 5-all. But after doing all the hard work to push back into the match, the World No. 46 sprayed four unforced errors to drop serve to love to cede momentum back to Medvedev, who would eventually claim a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
The reigning US Open champion has a faint hope of denying Novak Djokovic a record seventh finish as year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. At a minimum, by winning the Paris title the World No. 2 can ensure that Djokovic won’t clinch World No. 1 honours before the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
Medvedev will next face #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda, who defeated last week’s St. Petersburg champion Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4. Korda did not face a break point and dropped just seven points on serve.
There are several scenarios in which Djokovic can clinch the achievement in Paris:
- Djokovic wins Paris title (regardless of Medvedev’s Paris finish)
- Djokovic reaches Paris final + Medvedev does not win Paris title
- Djokovic reaches Paris SF + Medvedev does not reach Paris final
- Djokovic reaches Paris QF + Medvedev does not reach Paris SF
- Djokovic reaches Paris 3R + Medvedev does not reach Paris SF
- Medvedev does not reach Paris QF (regardless of Djokovic’s Paris finish)