The past month and a half have become by far the best in Medvedev's career. Already in August, the athlete reached the finals of the prestigious competitions of the Association of Tennis Professionals of Professional (ATP) three times, and in Cincinnati he won his first tournament of the Masters series. However, subsequently he did not slow down and in turn reached the decisive matches at the US Open and the championship in St. Petersburg. But if in New York he lost to Rafael Nadal in a tense struggle, he confidently prevailed in his native land.
Medvedev approached the tournament in the Northern capital in the status of one of the leaders of the season in the total number of victories. In anticipation of the start of the competition, he had 46 meetings won, which was only one less than the season leader Nadal. Thus, already in Russia, he could not only catch up with the second racket of the world, but also break ahead.
Medvedev did not put off this matter for a long time and by the third day of the competition he overtook Nadal. In St. Petersburg, the fourth racket of the world was seeded under the first number, as a result of which he entered the fight only at the stage of 1/8 final. There, Daniel was expected by his compatriot Eugene Donskoy, who on paper did not threaten to become a serious test for him. Until now, athletes have beaten each other once.
As a result, a serious struggle was only in the first game, which ended with a score of 7: 5 in favor of Medvedev. Donskoy even managed to take the pitch of his vis-a-vis, but he wasn’t enough for more. In the second, Daniel immediately made a break and only once gave the enemy hope for a revival of intrigue. However, a double break point was won back, and the set ended with the score 6: 3.
In the quarter-finals, the tennis player was threatened with a much more intense duel with another compatriot. After the unsuccessful start of the season, Andrei Rublev got in good shape and over the past few months has managed to deal with a number of illustrious opponents. So, in Hamburg he turned out to be stronger than Dominic Tim, in New York he broke the resistance of Nick Kiryos, and in Cincinnati he appeared to be a thunderstorm of the Swiss, alternately dealing with Stanislas Wavrinka and Roger Federer. True, on the way to the final of the Masters tournament, he got the same Medvedev.
This time the meeting turned out to be more intense, but also did not last long. Rublev led twice with a comfortable advantage in two games, but both times he allowed his counterpart to make a comeback. Moreover, he turned out to be especially offensive for him in the second installment. Andrew filed for the set, but Daniel suddenly perked up and took four games in a row. Medvedev extended his unbeaten run in full-time confrontation with his compatriot to three matches and reached the semifinals.
The meeting with Yegor Gerasimov, although it turned out to be the most intense in a row, but at the same time was not the longest. To succeed in the battle with the Belarusan, it took him a little more than an hour and a half - ten minutes less than over Rublev. In both sets, Medvedev was stronger with a score of 7: 5, but he could have spent much less effort if he had served more confidently. So, he performed six aces, but at the same time made five double mistakes at once.
Despite the impressive achievements in the last month and a half and the difference of victories and defeats 23: 3, Medvedev could not be considered an unequivocal favorite in the final of the tournament in St. Petersburg. Firstly, over the past 15 years, not a single Russian athlete has been able to repeat the achievement of Mikhail Yuzhny and win the competition in the city on the Neva. Secondly, his rival was Borna Chorich, in five games with which he left the court “with a shield” only once.
Until now, Medvedev's only success has been at Wimbledon 2018. There, tennis players crossed at the stage of the first round, and the Croatian sheathed racket just three sets later. Moreover, if in the first case it came to a tie-break, then in the next two Russians allowed him to take only four games in total.
True, this was followed by a series of three consecutive defeats of Daniel. First, he lost to him in Cincinnati, then at the US Open, and the last triumph of Chorich fell on the tournament in Paris. There, Bourne was a little stronger than his counterpart, winning both games with a minimum difference in the long run.
However, the championship in St. Petersburg showed that over the past year, Medvedev has done tremendous work on himself and is an athlete of a completely different level. The newly-made "Prince of Hard" did not leave a single chance to his rival, giving him only four games.
In fact, Chorich fought on equal terms only in the first set. At the beginning of the game, the athletes were on a par, but with every minute it was harder for the Croat to resist Medvedev. The Russian acted much more confidently, and his counterpart now and then made unforced errors. Daniel, however, often acted extremely unpredictably and performed several really cool hits. The most important of them, of course, was the classic circle, which allowed him to step forward.
The second segment of the meeting went for the clear advantage of the owner of the courts. Medvedev took the first five games, which completely demoralized Chorich. If on his serve the Croat continued to resist, then at the reception he could hardly do anything, taking only three rallies.
As a result, Medvedev won the second set with a score of 6: 1 and became the fourth Russian champion of the tournament in St. Petersburg. Previously, this was only possible for Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1995), Marat Safin (2000 - 2001) and all the same Yuzhny (2004). In addition, over the past 15 years, only Mikhail reached the finals of the championship, but lost to Kazakhstani Mikhail Kukushkin.
Medvedev scored 250 points and strengthened his position in the ATP general classification. He not only broke away from his closest pursuer in the person of the fifth racket of the world, Dominic Tim, but also approached Roger Federer. At the moment, they are separated by 1645 points.
It is noteworthy that the Russian tennis player very reservedly celebrated his triumph and practically dispensed with the manifestation of emotions.
“In fact, I am very happy. Although, maybe, according to my reaction, you can’t say this after the last point. Having won at Cincinnati, I decided that it would be my style to restrain victories with restraint. It was very difficult to restrain myself and not yell at the top of my lungs, TASS quotes Medvedev.
The athlete also said that he would be happy to come to the tournament in St. Petersburg in 2020, if "his physical condition allows."
“This is one of my favorite tournaments. This year, many thought that I was going here just to appear, but here I am, I am giving you an interview after winning the final. So I proved everything to everyone, ”concluded Medvedev.