Daniil Medvedev made a successful start in pursuit of his first title of the year on Monday in Halle.
Despite being tied at 5-6 in the opening match, the third seed defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the second round of the Terra Wortmann Open. Medvedev won his first victory on a grass court in 2024 in an hour and 31 minutes.
[ATP APP]Borges, who was trying for the first Top 10 of his career (now 0-8), had an opening at the end of the first set. Favorite Medvedev hit a long double fault to give the Portuguese No. 1 fixed point. But the 28-year-old then hit a superb strike to escape trouble.
According to Infosys ATP Stats, the number 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings won only five points over his opponent in the match (74-69), but saved five of the six break points he faced, which proved to be critical.
To stand out from the ropes and frame 😅@ATPHAlle | #TerraWortmann Open | @DaniilMedwed pic.twitter.com/sb9A7QmSn4
– ATP Tour (@atptour) June 17, 2024
A finalist this year at the Australian Open and BNP Paribas Open, Medvedev has won 22-1 against players outside the Top 20 this season. He will next play with Chinese No. 1 Zhang Zhizhen, who defeated Sebastian Ofner 7-6(8), 6-7(3), 6-4.
It will be the first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting between Medvedev and Zhang (there are no previous tour-level matches), but they played once eight years ago in the qualifiers for the Nice ATP 250. Medvedev won the match in full stoppage time.
Wild card Dominik Koepfer of Germany led eighth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 4-3, when the Canadian retired with a left groin injury.
In another, Fabian Marozsan eliminated Roman Safiullin 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. He may next play World No. 1 Jannik Sinner if the Italian beats the Dutch Tallon Griekspoor.
Another Italian, Lorenzo Sonego, cruised past Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(6), 7-6(5) after a strong first serve, winning with 85 percent of those points. Sonego will face second seed Alexander Zverev or next qualifier Oscar Otte.
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
