Daniil Medvedev’s dominant hard-court form in North America continued Thursday. The top seed overcome Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-3 at the Western & Southern Open to extend his winning streak to seven matches and reach the quarter-finals in Cincinnati.
The Russian is aiming to complete a Cincinnati-Toronto double this week, after defeating Reilly Opelka to capture his fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers on Sunday.
”It was tough, especially in the second set,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “I had four break points before I broke him. I knew I had to continue to push him. Grigor is an amazing player, but a little bit worse on the backhand, and I like when people slice, so that was a tactic to try to put pressure on him there. Of course, [I] mixed it up with the forehand sometimes and it seemed to work really well.
“What makes it tough [on the Cincinnati-Toronto double], it is two weeks in a row against the best players in the world. I am still young, healthy and feeling 100 per cent, so that is why I want to try and do it.”
The 25-year-old dictated from the baseline with his flat powerful groundstrokes, breaking the Bulgarian three times to advance in one hour and 30 minutes. Medvedev now leads Dimitrov 3-1 in their ATP Head2Head Series and will next face either ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
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Medvedev, No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, has fond memories from Cincinnati, having lifted his first Masters 1000 title in Ohio in 2019. The 12-time tour-level titlist has also captured trophies on grass in Mallorca and hard in Marseille this season and guided Russia to the ATP Cup title in February.
In a lively start, breaks were exchanged as Dimitrov caused Medvedev problems, pulling the Russian around the court with his variety of shots. However, Medvedev quickly raised his level, hitting with consistent depth to move 5-2 ahead in the first set. He then sealed the opener with one of the seven aces he hit in the match.
After Dimitrov fended off two break points in the first and fifth games in the second set, Medvedev, who took a tumble at the start of the set, finally broke to lead 4-3 as his pressure paid off. The Russian continued to play deep behind the baseline, soaking up Dimitrov’s groundstrokes to secure his victory.
Dimitrov, who captured his lone Masters 1000 trophy in Cincinnati in 2017, defeated Roberto Bautista Agut and Alexander Bublik en route to the third round. The 30-year-old now holds an 18-9 record in Ohio.
Did You Know?
Medvedev is aiming to become just the seventh male player to capture the Cincinnati-Toronto double in the Open Era. Cliff Richey, Eddie Dibbs, Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter, Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal have all achieved this.
Source Tennis – ATP World Tour
