Twenty-two year old Russian rising star Danil Medvedev beat Steve Johnson 6-4 6-4 to claim the second title of his career at the Wake Forest University Complex in Winston Salem.
Medvedev won his first ATP title in Sydney as a qualifier last January, when he beat Australian Next Gen player Alex De Minaur. In Winston Salem the 2017 ATP Next Gen Finals semifinalist did not drop a single set in six matches during the week. The Russian player clinched his fourth win over Johnson after dropping just four points on his first serve. He faced just one break point, as he was serving for the match and saved it. Johnson faced eight break points and dropped his serve once in each set.
In the first set Medvedev earned two break points in the fifth game, but Johnson saved them with two aces. The Russian player broke serve in the ninth game, when Johnson netted an easy backhand. Medvedev held his serve in the tenth game with five service winners to close out the opening set in 37 minutes. Both players held their service games in the first six games of the second set, before Johnson wasted two game points to drop his serve and trailed 3-4.
Medvedev brought up three match points on his return in the ninth game but did not convert them. Medvedev faced the first break point of the match in the 10th game, but he saved it with a service winner. He earned his fourth match with a smash winner. He wrapped up the match with another smash winner. Johnson has extended his win-loss record against Johnson to 4-1. Johnson won his only match against his Russian rival in just 76 minutes last June.
“I am so tired. It was so hot and humid. I was like: “How long am I going to play six matches if I need to play the tournament ? So I thought okay, this is not my tournament. It became 5-4, his serve. So I thought: “Okay, that’s probably it. That’s not my tournament. It feels amazing. At the beginning of the week I did not think it was going to be possible because I was playing quite good but I didn’t feel I was at the right form to win a title. I started quite slow the tournament. I could even have lost the first match, and I finally won the tournament without dropping a set, which is quite an amazing achievement and I am really happy about it ”, said Medvedev to the ESPN.
Johnson was bidding to become the ninth player since 2010 to win a tour-level tournament on three different surfaces after winning Houston on clay and Newport on grass.
“He played really well. I didn’t make many errors, and unfortunately it was not my best day of tennis, but that’s life. I did not find a way to get it done on some of the big points and hopefully I will clean up a few things when I play on Monday at the US Open”, said Johnson.
