Rafael Nadal beats Daniil Medvedev and wins fifth title in Canada
Rafael Nadal won the Canadian Open title for the fifth time on Sunday evening. The Spaniard prevailed in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 from Montreal against Daniil Medvedev with 6: 3, 6: 0 after 71 minutes.
by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Aug 11, 2019, 11:48 pm
It was Nadal's 35th title in a Masters category tournament in the 51st final. For the tenth time he won a Masters title on hard court. For the first time in his career, he defended a tournament win on this surface.
"The first game was important. It couldn't have an advantage. The start was always tricky because he had a lot of confidence. Luckily I held the serve and then I played the best tennis of the week," said Nadal after the game.
"I have to congratulate Rafel. You are a great champion. You had an incredible tournament," said Medvedev, who made a good impression at the award ceremony despite the clear defeat.
Medvedev showed his best tennis right at the start of the match. In the first game, rallies went over 24 and 32 strokes to the Russians, but Nadal brought his serve after a blocked breakball.
A little later it was the Spaniard himself who turned his second break chance in the fourth game. After 41 minutes the first set was on his account.
Rafael Nadal with perfect performance in the second set
The 33-year-old took the momentum with him in the second set when he took off his opponent's serve three times. The game was decided quickly because Medvedev was unusually weak on serve compared to the entire week and made significantly more mistakes than the former number one in the world.
With his victory in Montreal, Nadal, who made twelve winners and 13 unforced mistakes, consolidated his position as the first chaser in the ATP world rankings. He will be number two at the US Open. Medvedev moves to eighth place after the final and overtakes his compatriot Karen Khachanov. As of Monday, he is the best-placed Russian in the ranking.
Nadal initially wanted to keep a possible retreat for the next Masters tournament in Cincinnati next week open.