Double success: how Medvedev won the trophy in Vienna and made it to the ATP Finals

The competitions in Vienna were special for Daniil Medvedev for several reasons.

Firstly, he needed to break through to the ATP Final Tournament, which will be held November 13-20 in Turin.

Secondly, they marked his return to the court after he withdrew from the semi-final in Astana on 8 October due to a hip injury.

According to the Russian, after that he did not train for a week and a half and trained at 100% only a few days before the start of the tournament in Austria.

Finally, the athlete approached him in a new status, because on October 14 he and his wife had a daughter.

Probably, this additionally motivated the player, since he was unstoppable in Vienna.

In four matches on the way to the final, he did not lose a single set and did not allow opponents to take more than six games.

At the same time, Medvedev's opponents were quite serious: Nikoloz Basilashvili, Dominic Thiem, Yannick Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov.

In the semi-finals, Daniil did not leave the experienced Bulgarian a chance and could not even refrain from complimenting himself, saying that he was satisfied with the level of tennis shown.

This victory also allowed him to solve the main problem and qualify for the ATP Finals for the fourth year in a row.

A nice bonus should have been the conquest of another trophy.

But on the way to success, the Russian had to break the resistance of an extremely difficult competitor - Denis Shapovalov.

The 23-year-old Canadian also scored a great move and, in particular, knocked out Taylor Fritz, who is in the top 10 ATP rating, to whom he lost in the semi-finals of the competition in Tokyo in early October.

However, the domestic athlete was still considered the clear favorite.

In addition, the last three face-to-face confrontations were his.

Moreover, in these matches, he did not allow the North American to take a single set.

And this year they met for the second time.

In August, Medvedev celebrated a victory in the third round of the Masters in Cincinnati - 7:5, 7:5.

But the first game at the tournament in Vienna turned out to be extremely difficult for him.

A native of Moscow did not immediately manage to adjust to the opponent's style of play and feel self-confident.

Shapovalov acted very boldly, actively and moved around the court a lot.

At first, Daniel was embarrassed by his activity.

He couldn't keep up with Denis' speed and as a result he made a lot of mistakes.

In the opening game, he had 21 unforced blots in his liability, while the Canadian had almost two times less (11).

At the same time, it was Medvedev who earned the first break point already in the second game, but he could not convert it.

But Shapovalov then confidently took the opponent's serve.

He did not stop there and repeated his achievement through the game.

This allowed him to lead with a serious advantage - 4:1.

The fans hardly expected such a start of the meeting.

Only finding himself in an almost hopeless situation, the favorite woke up.

He managed to make a return break, and then take his own serve.

Daniil finally adapted to an uncomfortable opponent and evened out the game.

Moreover, he nearly saved the game.

With the score 4:5, he clung to Shapovalov's serve with all his might and managed to bring the matter to a balance.

As a result, Denis, at the cost of enormous efforts, converted the set point only on the third attempt and put an end to the game.

However, the main thing is that Medvedev felt confident in himself and after a short break began to show a completely different tennis.

Now he was imposing his game on his opponent, and he was forced to adapt.

If before that the Canadian took most of even the most difficult blows, then in the second set he began to make mistakes much more often.

His delivery was completely messed up.

No wonder Daniel took it twice.

A particularly important break came in the eighth game, when the Russian did not allow the opponent to score a single point and scored a hidden set point.

He showed a domestic athlete and the presence of character.

With a score of 3:1, he won back four break points in an incredible ten-minute rally and still tipped the scales in his favor.

And then he coped with his nerves when the North American in the seventh game nevertheless took his serve and reduced the gap to a minimum.

In the final game, Medvedev already completely reigned on the court.

Daniil caught incredible courage and enjoyed his own tennis.

He got through even the toughest shots.

So, in the fifth game, after a tight forehand opponent along the line, he managed to get the ball at the very surface and send it exactly to the side.

Also, the Russian began to regularly go to the grid, which he had not done before.

Shapovalov, on the contrary, did not succeed.

He made one mistake after another.

After his strikes, the ball regularly either hit the net or flew out of bounds, which went into the hands of the fourth racket of the world.

After another blot, Denis even started yelling at himself.

But that didn't help him.

Taking the starting game, he lost five game segments in a row, including two on his own serve.

Moreover, even with an equal score, the Muscovite took a break to zero, teaching his opponent a real lesson in skill.

For a short time, the Canadian managed to get together only a step away from defeat.

In the seventh game, he managed to save himself, preventing the favorite from converting several match points.

In the next one, he lost 0:40 already at the reception, but again managed to bring the matter to balance.

However, this time Medvedev did not drag out the match and put an end to it.

Thus, he won the second trophy in 2022.

He won his first victory in August in Mexico.

In total, the Russian won the 15th ATP tournament in his career.

At the same time, in Vienna, he had not even reached the final before.

Also, this success will allow him to climb to third position in the ATP rankings.

In its updated version, the domestic athlete will bypass the Norwegian Kasper Ruud, who lost already in the first round of the parallel tournament in Basel.

Only the Spaniards Carlos Alcaras and Rafael Nadal will remain above.

But it was much more important for Medvedev to give a gift to his newborn daughter, and it is no coincidence that immediately after the game he turned to his wife.

“I dedicate this victory to my wife, because she gave me the most beautiful gift - my daughter.

These emotions cannot be compared with any title.

Dasha, thank you very much!

I don’t know what else to say, I was pinched, ”said the happy athlete.