Danil Medvedev beat Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-3 in the second round to reach the quarter final at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Medvedev earned the first break point of the match converting his fourth break point in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Russian player closed out the first set 6-3 with a break at love in the ninth game.
Medvedev won the second set 6-3 after 98 minutes with his only break in the fourth game.
Medvedev has drawn level to 3-3 in his six head-to-head matches against Thiem.
“It was a tough match. Around 1 hour and 40 minutes, even if you win 6-3 6-3, it was a tough match, it could have gone either way. At one moment in the match I started to put a lot of pressure on his serve. I was serving I started to put a lot of pressure on his serve. I was serving good myself, so I did not give him so many opportunities on my serve, and that was the key today I think”, said Medvedev.
The key of the match was the seventh game, when Medvedev earned the crucial break.
“That was the first game of the match where I actually won the first point on his serve. Otherwise, it was 40-0 for him all the time, so a little bit tougher to break. This game I managed to put pressure on him. He had two or three game points where I managed to bring it back to deuce which is really important. When I won this game, I got a little of momentum during the match”, said Medvedev.
Medvedev equalled the best result in Vienna he achieved in 2020, when he reached the quarter final.
Medvedev set up a quarter final match against Jannik Sinner, who beat Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-3 in 1 hour and 29 minutes. Sinner was playing his second match since he recovered from an ankle injury.
Sinner has reached his 10th ATP Tour quarter final this season.
Both players held their service games in the first eight games. Sinner faced the first break point in the ninth game, but he saved it with an ace. Sinner broke serve to love in the 12th game after Cerundolo made three backhand unforced errors.
Sinner earned an early break in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Cerundolo broke back in the fifth game with a backhand down the line to reduce the deficit to 2-3. Sinner won eight of his next nine points earning a second break to love in the sixth game before holding serve to 15 to open up a 5-2 lead. Sinner saved a break point in the ninth game before holding serve at deuce with his second ace.
“It was completely different compared to yesterday’s match. I am happy because it was a difficult match. These are the matches you always try to win, even when you don’t play your best tennis. I think I played well on the most important points. This is what matters most. Today I managed to win the match, but I will have to raise my level tomorrow against Medvedev”, said Sinner.
