Daniil Medvedev reaches first ATP Masters final - Rafael Nadal is waiting
Daniil Medvedev reached the first final of an ATP Masters 1000 in his career on Saturday. The Russian prevailed against his fellow countryman Karen Khachanov in Montreal in two sets and meets Rafael Nadal on Sunday, who entered the final without a fight.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 11, 2019, 02:31 am
Medvedev, ninth in the world rankings, did not lose a single set on his way to the final, he also won against Khachanov thanks to a strong serve and with 6: 1, 7: 6 (6). In the second set he gave a break lead twice, even when he served 5: 4 on the match. But the 23-year-old kept his nerve and claimed victory after an hour and 23 minutes in the tie-break.
"I think that my thoughts thwarted my calculations. I felt very relaxed and confident. I was really angry with myself," said Medvedev when asked about the weak phases in the second sentence.
Before that, he also won two sets against Kyle Edmund, Cristian Garin and Dominic Thiem and never played more than three games.
A year ago, Medvedev was only number 68 in the world and still had to fight through qualification at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. He is currently not only in the top 10 of the ATP ranking, but is also fighting for a place at the ATP Finals in London in mid-November. He currently ranks sixth in the race.
Rafael Nadal through Monfils task in the Montreal final
In the final on Sunday, Medvedev meets Rafael Nadal, who got on without a fight due to a task from Gael Monfils. Monfils had to play their quarter-final game on Saturday afternoon after his match against Roberto Bautista Agut was postponed due to rain on Friday evening after only two points played.
Monfils prevailed in a competitive game with 6: 4, 3: 6 and 7: 6 (2), but was so exhausted that he could not compete for his second match of the day. Monfils gave the official reason for an ankle bruise.