That was a big miss! Medvedev is still fighting to defend his title from Vienna

Tournament leader and defending champion Daniil Medvedev slipped into the eighth round in Vienna. He made his first-round match more interesting with a rare error. What opponents stand in his way of defending his title?

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev is having a turbulent year. But the pros outweigh the cons. After all, he has already won five titles on three different surfaces.

His third place in the ATP rankings secures him a place in the Tournament of Champions and this week he has another big challenge ahead of him. He has a chance to defend his triumph from last year at the ATP 500-level tournament in Vienna.

Opening match spiced with a miss at the net

The first opponent for Medvedev in the Austrian capital was Arthur Fils. The 19-year-old French tennis hope. The Russian backed it up with a screaming error at the net.

Overall, however, last year’s tournament winner did not spare his opponent at all. He beat him 6:4, 6:2 in an hour and a quarter and put on a great performance.

“Meddy” was especially excellent on his serve. He lost only five balls on his serve. He won 90% of the exchanges after his first serve.

Other opponents

The Erste Bank Open is a well-attended event. In addition to Medvedev, the tournament’s line-up includes Italian Sinner, Greek Tsitsipas and German Zverev. The latter has announced an attack on the Tournament of Champions.

But first things first. On Thursday, the Russian will play Dimitrov of Bulgaria. And the experienced Bulgarian is also having a very successful year.

He has already played three semi-finals on the ATP circuit since August and in the first round in Vienna he also had no serious problems advancing. He drove Italian Musetti off the court after sets 6:3 and 6:4.

Medvedev is still the big favourite for the quarter-final match. He has won five out of seven duels against Dimitrov.

It is already clear that if he advances, he would face his compatriot Khachanov, who passed Jiri Lehecka in the eighth round.

Still, there is one more Czech name in play. Tomáš Macháč has a big challenge in the form of the Tsitsipas River and the winner of this duel may also face the Russian favourite afterwards.

To conclude

The cast of the Vienna is getting closer to a Grand Slam tournament. After all, from the top ten of the ATP rankings you will find here five players. The following days here will definitely be something to watch.

Medvedev will have a tough road to defend. His match with Dimitrov is definitely the top of Thursday’s tennis action.

Source: Erste Bank Open, ATP, X/Twitter