World No.4 Daniil Medvedev has made a winning return to the tour following his run at the US Open by easing his way into the quarter-finals of the St Petersburg Open.
The top seed required just under 80 minutes to dispose of fellow countryman Evgeny Donskoy 7-5, 6-3. Winning 81% of his first service points and breaking his opponent four times. However, it wasn’t an entirely straightforward encounter for Medvedev, who lost his break advantage midway throughout the opening set before regaining control. Extending his winning head-to-head record against Donskoy to 2-0.
“Evgeny is a good friend, so it’s hard to play against him and perceive him as a rival.” Said Medvedev. “In principle, today I played well, although there were moments where I could have played better, but the most important thing for me was to get into the tournament.”
The 23-year-old is bidding to reach his fourth consecutive final on the tour this week after enjoying a stellar summer in North America. Where he won 20 out of 23 matches played and won his first Masters title in Cincinnati. At the US Open, he took Rafael Nadal to five sets before losing in a marathon final.
Billed as the star attraction at the tournament, Medvedev’s popularity has soared. Earlier this week he signed an endorsement deal with BMW where he will feature in a series of activities organised by the car manufacturer.
In the quarter-finals the top seed will play either Andrey Rublev or Ricardas Berankis.
Khachanov falls
There was bad news for second seed Karen Khachanov. The grand slam quarter-finalist was edged out by Portugal’s Joao Sousa, who is ranked more than 50 places lower than him at 64th. Khachanov managed to win only 42% of his second service points as he bowed out 7-6(2), 6-4.
“The crowd was very fair today. They were pushing Karen and they pushed me as well.” Sousa said during his on-court interview. “I played a great match and I think they enjoyed this match. Unfortunately, Karen couldn’t win and he is a Russian playing at home, but in the end, I was able to win and I’m very happy.”
Sousa will next play sixth seed Mikhail Kukushkin. Kukushkin defeated Damir Dzumhur in the second round to reach the quarter-finals of an ATP Tour event for only the third time this year. The first two were in Marseille, France and Los Cabos, Mexico.
“Mikhail is a great player, I played against him recently in Davis Cup and there was a different ambiance. Hopefully, we’ll have a little bit more crowd.” Sousa previewed.
“It’s going to be another tough match – just as today, so now it’s time to recover and to enjoy this win.”
Also through to the quarter-finals are Matteo Berrettini and Borna Coric. US Open semi-finalist Berrettini dropped just three games against Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena. Meanwhile, Coric’s opponent, Marton Fucsovics, retired during their match.
The quarter-final line-up
(1) Medvedev RUS vs Berankis LTU or Rublev RUS
(3) Berrettini ITA vs (Q) Gerasimov BLR
(8) Ruus NOR vs (4) Coric CRO
(6) Kukushkin KAZ vs Sousa POR
