Daniil Medvedev (Russia), a ‘Heart Court Powerhouse’, won the first clay court event in his life ahead of the French Open, the second major tournament of the season.
Men’s Professional Tennis (ATP) Tour World Ranking No. 3 Medvedev defeated Holger Rune (Denmark) 2-0 (7-5 7-5) in the men’s singles final of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 Series Italy Rome Open held in Rome, Italy on the 22nd. ) won. Medvedev became the first player to reach 5 wins in a season, including two victories in the 1000 series competition, which is a lower level in major competitions.메이저사이트
With this win, Medvedev will push Novak Djokovic (Serbia) to second place in the newly announced ranking.
Medvedev is a top-level player on the tour who has won 19 times in his tour career before this day. However, most of the victories, including the 2021 US Open title, were concentrated on hard courts (18 times). This win is special in that it is his first clay-court win besides overtaking the steeply rising Rune.
Although Medvedev consistently achieves good results in hard court competitions, it strangely did not work out well on clay courts, where rallies are long due to slow balls. Neither the defense that received the faster ball nor the stamina that overcame the murderous heat (2 runner-up at the Australian Open) did not become a weapon in clay court competitions.
Just a week later, the French Open, a major tournament held on clay courts, will be held, and Medvedev can expect higher results as he received the second seed in singles with a rise in ranking in addition to his confidence. Medvedev has the pain of being eliminated in the first round for four consecutive years after first participating in the 2017 French Open. In her last two seasons, she improved little by little, reaching the quarterfinals and the fourth round.
After the match, Medvedev said, “Honestly, in my career, I did not believe that I would win the 1000 Series on clay courts. I hated clay court competitions. I don’t like playing on clay courts where nothing works,” he said, laughing happily, saying, “Even now, hard courts are my only love, but playing on clay courts will definitely be better than now.”