Third seed Daniil Medvedev on Sunday claimed his first Paris Masters title at Bercy Arena by battling back from a set down to beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
The Russian was on top form in a high-quality encounter, winning 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to secure his first trophy of the season and the eighth of his career.
“It’s great, I’m really happy. As I always say, I don’t always show this after matches, but I’m always happy to win,” said Medvedev after securing his third Masters title.
Photo: AFP
Both players now plan turn their attention to the ATP Tour Finals in London, an event won by Zverev in 2018.
Medvedev has had an up-and-down season, but was at his best this week in Paris, continuing his magnificent record on hard courts — all of his ATP titles have come on the surface.
“Before this tournament I wasn’t in great form, zero finals this year and I was crying, well complaining, to my wife: ‘Oh my God, I don’t have the level, not playing well, not even any finals,’” he said. “But now, three Masters titles, it’s great. I have had the level this week. I managed to keep the pressure on, and in the end I broke his level a little bit.”
Fourth seed Zverev, who was bidding for a third straight tournament victory after back-to-back successes on home soil in Cologne, remains without a Masters title since the 2018 Madrid Open after seeing his 12-match winning streak ended.
He has recently denied allegations from his ex-girlfriend Olga Sharypova that he tried to “strangle” her while at last year’s US Open.
Zverev hit out at those criticizing him after the match.
“I know that right now there are a lot of people who will be trying to wipe a smile off my face, but I’m still smiling under this mask,” Zverev said.
The 24-year-old Medvedev has won two of his last three matches against Zverev, having also beaten him in last year’s Shanghai Masters final, but still trails their head-to-head 5-2.
NO HARD FEELINGS: Taiwan’s Lin Hsiang-ti and Indonesia’s Dhinda Amartya Pratiwi embraced after fighting to a tense and rare 30-29 final game in their Uber Cup match The Taiwanese men’s team on Wednesday fought back from the brink of elimination to defeat Denmark in Group C and advance to the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, while the women’s team were to face South Korea after press time last night in the Uber Cup quarter-finals in Horsens, Denmark. In the first match, Taiwan’s top shuttler Chou Tien-chen faced a familiar opponent in world No. 3 Anders Antonsen. It was their 16th head-to-head matchup, with the Dane taking his fourth victory in a row against former world No. 2 Chou, winning 21-14, 13-21, 21-15 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Tennis players are facing an unexpected opponent at the Madrid Open. A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and others, raising concerns. World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she is trying to avoid illness by sticking to a diet of chicken breasts, rice and salad. The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame. Sabalenka knocked on wood for luck and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos,” she laughed, adding “I stick to the
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
RSS