A fan on the court, the departure of the coach from the stands and a bad game at the reception: how Medvedev lost the third final this year

While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are preparing for Wimbledon, Daniil Medvedev is collecting points in all possible grass tournaments that take place in Europe.

Last week, the Russian reached the final in 's-Hertogenbosch, but sensationally lost to the 205th racket of the world, Tim van Reithoven.

This time, the leader of the world ranking was able to get to the decisive match in Halle, Germany.

Moreover, this tournament is already an order of magnitude more serious - the ATP 500. Therefore, the Russian had to fight for the trophy with Hubert Hurkach.

Daniil approached the duel with the Pole in good shape: throughout the tournament he did not lose a single set.

However, according to the head of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpishchev, it will be possible to talk about the athlete's physical condition only after five-set confrontations.

At the last tournament in the Netherlands, Medvedev also walked confidently along the grid, but in the final it became clear that the operation was still making itself felt.

At the same time, in recent matches, Daniil began to feel more confident on the court.

Another interesting statistic proves this.

The tennis player in four meetings did not give his opponents a single break point.

Although Medvedev's opponents were not the easiest: David Goffin (39th ATP rating number), Ilya Ivashko (42nd), Oscar Otte (52nd), and Roberto Bautista-Agut (20th), whom the Russian never played before.

Perhaps it was the match with the Spaniard that turned out to be the most difficult for the domestic athlete on the way to the final - with long rallies, like on clay.

However, he was so determined to win that he was able to achieve it.

Khurkach was considered no less inconvenient for a Russian.

The Pole moves well for his height (1.96 cm -

), and also works well on the back line.

The last time the rivals met recently was in the quarterfinals of the Masters in Miami.

Then Hubert stunned Daniel by the fact that he was able to impose a fight on someone else's serve.

And in the end he won the match in two sets.

At the same time, the Pole performs well on the grass, last year he reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon 2021.

It was at this tournament that he first met with a Russian.

Then in the fourth round, Medvedev led the sets 2:1, but the match was postponed the next day due to rain, and Khurkach managed to make a comeback, winning the meeting in five games.

So everyone was expecting at least a tense struggle from the final in Halle.

But the beginning of the game performed by Medvedev frankly disappointed.

It seemed that the fans returned to 's-Hertogenbosch again, and the third game of the meeting with Tim van Reithoven was underway.

The Dutchman then almost took the second set “at zero”.

This time, Daniel's actions again showed some kind of hopelessness.

Hurkach took his serve without any problems, and then expectedly imposed a fight on someone else's, which again baffled the first racket of the world.

The score quickly became 0:5.

At that moment, a fan ran out onto the court and tried to chain herself to the net, but she was quickly grabbed and dragged away by the guards.

This respite helped, Medvedev took one game, but eventually lost - 1:6. 

In the second game, the Russian did not stop fighting and even gave out some good rallies, but at the same time, Khurkach never even let Daniil impose a fight at the reception.

Medvedev was able to take only five points per match.

Emotions from the Russians beat over the edge.

In one of the episodes, he could not stand it and splashed out the negative on the box, where his wife Daoya and coach Gilles Servara were sitting, after which the specialist packed up and left the stands.

However, it did not help to turn the tide of the meeting - 4:6.

As the honored coach of Russia Andrey Olkhovsky explained, Khurkach competently held the meeting in terms of tactics.

“He was better given serves, rallies, and in general he played more freely than Daniel.

Since he took 78 percent on the first pitch, that speaks for itself.

With such an opponent, you need to keep your serve.

In addition, Daniil failed the beginning of both games, tried to return in the second, but nothing came of it.

What can I say, Medvedev lost to a very worthy opponent, who is now in great shape.

I think Khurkach will be one of the contenders for victory at Wimbledon, ”RIA Novosti quotes the words of a specialist.

Daniil lost the third final this year and the fifth after winning the US Open-2021.

In addition, Medvedev can not take the trophy in the status of the first racket of the world.

He will make his next attempt next week - at a tournament in Mallorca.

However, in any case, the Russian, following the results of the tournament in Halle, only strengthened his position in the ATP rankings.

It should also be noted that every week the tennis player only adds to his game on the grass, which means that at Wimbledon he would certainly be among the favorites of the competition.

Especially considering the fact that he was seeded under the first number.