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Medvedev gains Sinner revenge, wins five-set QF thriller at Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 09, 2024

Daniil Medvedev gained revenge against Jannik Sinner on Tuesday at Wimbledon, where he earned an epic 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 quarter-final win to snap a five-match losing streak against the Italian.

Earlier this year, Sinner rallied from two sets down to defeat Medvedev in the Australian Open final before he dispatched him in straight sets en route to the title in Miami.

History looked on course to repeat itself on the lawns of west London after Sinner won a tight first set, but Medvedev had other ideas. The fifth seed stood deep behind the baseline and went into lockdown mode to grind down the World No. 1, who received a medical timeout in the third set due to illness.

At 1-2, the Italian had his pulse checked by a doctor before he walked off court to receive further treatment. Sinner continued on, but had his head in his towel at times during changeovers.

Medvedev ruthlessly took advantage of Sinner’s slight drop in intensity, hitting 55 winners to inflict just a fourth defeat of the season on the World No. 1. With his thrilling four-hour win, Medvedev improved to 7-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Tuesday’s quarter-final marked his first victory against Sinner since the 2023 Miami final.

“I knew if I was going to beat Jannik it was going to be a tough match,” Medvedev said. “He is not a guy you are going to beat easily. At one moment he wasn’t feeling too good but he started playing better and I am happy I managed to stay at a high level. There were some great points, it was a great match and I am happy to win and I am looking forward.”

Into his ninth major semi-final (second consecutive at Wimbledon), the No. 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings is chasing his first Grand Slam title since the 2021 US Open. Medvedev will face third-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz or 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul on Friday.

Sinner has earned a Tour-leading 42 wins this season and was aiming to become the first Italian man to reach multiple Wimbledon semi-finals. Sinner lost in the last four to Novak Djokovic last year and was unable to match Medvedev’s consistency and ballstriking in the fifth set in London, where Medvedev was too strong in the gruelling baseline battles.

“It is very tough because I could feel he wasn’t moving that well,” Medvedev said when asked about Sinner. “You want to play more points to make him suffer a little bit more and at the same time you know at one point he is going to think he can’t run anymore and will go full power and that is what he did. He had set points to win the third set. In a way I would have preferred to not have this situation but everything turned out well.”

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Under the roof on Centre Court, there was little to separate both in the first set, with a tie-break left to decide the opener. In a low-quality breaker, Medvedev made a string of errors to give Sinner the advantage. The fifth seed double faulted at 3/1 and missed a backhand return on a Sinner second serve at 4/5. He then fired wide off rally-ball forehands at 6/5 and 6/6, before striking his second double fault of the tie-break at set point down.

Medvedev responded at the start of the second set by breaking in the third game and was the more consistent in the set, committing just six unforced errors compared to 14 from Sinner, who struggled to time the ball. Medvedev did not face a break point in the set, levelling with an ace.

Sinner then received a medical timeout at 1-2 in the third set, with a doctor checking his pulse. Seemingly unwell, the Italian briefly left the court before returning. The top seed did not look overly impaired by the issue but could not regain his lead, with Medvedev finding consistency in the tie-break to lead.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/09/14/45/sinner-wimbledon-2024-tuesday-2.jpg” alt=”Jannik Sinner leaves the court to be assessed early in the third set of his Wimbledon quarter-final.” style=”width: 100%;” />
Jannik Sinner leaving the court at 1-2 in the third set. Photo Credit: Getty Images
The Italian was dominant on serve in the fourth set, winning 85 per cent of points on his first delivery and all five on his second. He also converted his chances on return, winning both break points he earned to force the 36th five-set match of this year’s Championships, an Open Era record at majors.

Medvedev would not be denied in the decider, though. The former Nitto ATP Finals champion played front-foot tennis to dictate proceedings, while he refused to miss in the gruelling baseline exchanges to earn his first Top 5 win of the season. Medvedev struck 55 winners to 49 unforced errors, with Sinner holding a 61-45 count.

Did You Know?
Medvedev has won five of his past six five-set matches, with his only defeat coming to Sinner at the Australian Open in January.

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Sinner resumes Medvedev battle at Wimbledon after medical assessment

  • Posted: Jul 09, 2024

Jannik Sinner has returned to Centre Court to resume his Wimbledon quarter-final against Daniil Medvedev after leaving the court for a medical assessment.

Sinner was visited by the physio at the changeover trailing 1-2 in the third set. Looking unwell, he had his pulse taken and then walked off the court for further assessment.

The Italian took the first set 7-6(7) before Medvedev levelled the match by taking the second 4-6.

After Sinner received a medical timeout, he returned to court but was unable to regain the lead against Medvedev, who won the third set 7-6(4) to move to within a set of his second Wimbledon semi-final.

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Sinner has won his past five meetings against Medvedev, including at this year’s Australian Open where he rallied from two sets down in the final to clinch his first major title. The top seed, who holds a 42-3 record on the year, is aiming to become the first Italian man to reach multiple Wimbledon semi-finals. The No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings lost in the last four to Novak Djokovic last year.

Medvedev is aiming to win his first major title since the US Open in 2021. The 28-year-old has dropped three sets en route to the semi-finals and moved past Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round on Sunday when the Bulgarian was forced to retire in the first set. Medvedev leads Sinner 6-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

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#NextGenATP teens Tien, Debru among youngest Challenger champions of 2024

  • Posted: Jul 09, 2024

#NextGenATP Learner Tien and Gabriel Debru will not soon forget their Sunday triumphs on the ATP Challenger Tour. The American Tien claimed the Cranbrook Tennis Classic in Michigan while Debru won on home soil at the Internationaux de Tennis de Troyes, becoming two of the three youngest champions on the ATP Challenger Tour this year.

Tien, 18, needed a deciding set in all five of his matches, earning a final victory against 19-year-old countryman Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to claim his maiden ATP Challenger Tour crown. In just the third final in Challenger history to feature two American teenagers, Tien fought back from a set and a break down to lift the trophy.

“Fifteen sets in five matches, went the distance in all of them. I was just really happy and relieved to get through all of them,” said Tien, World No. 267 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. “I’m really happy to get my first Challenger. That was one of the goals that I wanted to cross off my list this year.”

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A two-time major boys’ singles finalist, Tien is the youngest American Challenger champion since 2016, when an 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe won in Granby, Canada. Tien, who arrived at the Bloomfield Hills Challenger after three consecutive trophies at ITF M15 level, is the 10th-youngest American Challenger champion since 1990.

The lefty is up 14 spots to eleventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. Tien is aiming for his maiden trip to the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, which runs from 18-22 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The 18-year-old Debru became the youngest French Challenger champion since 2017 by winning in Troyes. The home favourite, 25th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, ousted Kazakh Timofey Skatov 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-5 in the final.

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/08/13/51/debru-troyesch-2024.jpg?w=100%25&hash=8F2DDEA8381036A7A4DC0FF25A37206D” style=”width:100%;” alt=”Gabriel Debru is crowned champion at the Troyes Challenger.” />
Gabriel Debru is crowned champion at the Troyes Challenger. Credit: Internationaux de Tennis de Troyes

The only Frenchmen to win a Challenger title at a younger age than Debru are Richard Gasquet, Fabrice Santoro, Gael Monfils and Corentin Moutet.

Youngest ATP Challenger Tour champions in 2024

Player Age Title
Joel Schwaerzler 18 years, three months Skopje
Gabriel Debru 18 years, six months Troyes
Learner Tien 18 years, seven months Bloomfield Hills

In other ATP Challenger Tour action, Murkel Dellien captured his first title at that level with a dominant run at the Ion Tiriac Challenger in Brasov, Romania. The Bolivian, who did not drop a set all week, downed Kazakh Dmitry Popko 6-3, 7-5 in the championship match. A 2021 graduate of Wichita State University, the 26-year-old Dellien is up to No. 164 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, setting him up for a Top 200 debut.

Slovakian Jozef Kovalik earned his third Challenger title of the season at the Tennis Open Karlsruhe in Germany. Seeded second, the 31-year-old defeated Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3, 7-6(2) in the final to become one of five players to win a trio of Challenger titles in 2024.

Kovalik is up to No. 103 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. The nine-time Challenger champion is aiming to return to the Top 100 for the first time since February 2019.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas collected his eighth Challenger crown and first since 2015 at the Modena Challenger, where the top seed overcame Italian Federico Arnaboldi 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the final. The 36-year-old Spaniard is the oldest Challenger champion this season.

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Granollers/Zeballos continue hunt for elusive Wimbledon title

  • Posted: Jul 09, 2024

Top seeds and two-time finalists Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos cruised into the Wimbledon quarter-finals Monday with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over Sebastian Baez and Dustin Brown.

The Spaniard and Argentine, who finished runners-up in 2023 and 2021, await the winner of Tuesday’s clash between Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow and Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

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Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and AndresMolteni had the toughest path to the quarter-finals Monday, holding out Britons Charles Broom and Arthur Fery 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5. They will play Australians Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, 6-4, 6-3 winners over Andreas Mies and John-Patrick Smith.

Fourth seeds and recent Roland Garros champions Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic advanced to the last eight with a 6-4, 7-6(1) win over Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul. Arevalo and Pavic have this week climbed past Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori to lead the PIF ATP Doubles Race To Turin.

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Inside Medvedev's preparation for Sinner showdown at Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 08, 2024

Daniil Medvedev is back in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second consecutive year.  Ahead of the tournament, he played “a great practice set” with World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. But that was training.

On Tuesday, the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will be tasked with snapping a five-match losing streak against the star who currently holds top spot.

“Look, the funny thing is I lost five times. But if I remember right, four times were really close. Did I get unlucky or not?” Medvedev wondered. “Even Beijing, two tie-breaks. What was it? Vienna, quite a crazy match. Turin, still a close match. I feel like maybe he won it easier, the Australian Open, close match. Then Miami he won easy.

“I feel like I was not far, but great job from him to win it five times in a row. [This will be the] first time we play on grass, I’m definitely going to come up with something.”

As difficult as it is entering a clash knowing he has lost five straight against Sinner, Medvedev still leads the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series 6-5. Seven of those meetings have come since the start of 2023, which Medvedev’s head coach, Gilles Cervara, likes.

“It’s a good thing to have played Jannik so many times the last few months,” Cervara told ATPTour.com. “My feeling is the more times you lose against the same opponent, the more chances you have to beat him the next time.”

<img src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/08/21/50/sinner-wimbledon-2024-v-medvedev.jpg” style=”width:100%” alt=”Jannik Sinner hits a backhand at Wimbledon 2024.” />
Jannik Sinner has won five straight matches against Daniil Medvedev, but the players have never met on grass. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

According to Cervara, time has allowed Sinner to continually improve since his breakthrough on the ATP Tour until now.

“He still has his amazing speed of the ball,” Cervara said of the 22-year-old. “But he controls the ball so, so well now. He looks like he can’t miss now at the speed he plays. Now he has a big first serve that he didn’t have one year and a half ago. And winning gives him more and more self-confidence.”

Medvedev more or less echoed the same sentiments. The fourth seed explained that Sinner “plays better”, but actually misses less.

“When Jannik came on Tour, straightaway everyone was a little bit, not shocked but like how strong he hits, how he can run fast and hit strong from every position of the court,” Medvedev said. “But he was missing a lot and hence, losing some matches. As soon as he stopped missing less, well, now it’s very tough to beat him for anyone. Not only for me. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world.”

The challenge for Team Medvedev is to find a way to take down this new-and-improved version of Sinner. Cervara is now joined by former World No. 6 Gilles Simon, who was called “The Professor” during his time on the circuit. Earlier this year, Medvedev revealed that Cervara had given Simon a list of players in particular the Frenchman would help find tactics against. Medvedev confirmed Sunday that Sinner is on that list.

“It is always interesting to have an ex-top player’s feeling and vision to share with my coaching experience,” Cervara said. “We communicate together with Daniil.”

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How does the way the team prepares Medvedev change because he has played Sinner so many times lately?

“It changes and doesn’t change,” Cervara said. “You use the different matches to keep [tactics], to change [tactics] or to do better than the last times.”

One notable difference is that they have never played on grass. That could affect some details because speed and movement can be different, forcing adaptation according to Cervara.

Medvedev said: “Small details makes big difference in tennis. It’s definitely tougher to play him now than before. Again, as I said, the matches were close. I had my chances. I’ll try to use them better this time.”

At this year’s Australian Open, Medvedev played three five-setters en route to the final and produced ultra-aggressive tennis to start the final against Sinner. It worked for two sets before he ran out of legs and Sinner found solutions. Which tactic will he use this time?

“I’m going to try to see what I can do to play good, to surprise him, to make him in trouble,” Medvedev said. “He’s for sure going to do the same. Hopefully it’s going to be a good match. [I will] try my best to win.”

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