Daniil Medvedev arrived at this year’s Internazionali BNL d'Italia with 76 ATP Masters 1000 match wins, but none of them had come in Rome.
The 27-year-old added a victory in the Eternal City to his collection in style on Sunday afternoon, when he overcame Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round at the clay-court event.
“It is a little bit [of a relief],” said Medvedev. “We can talk about all of the matches I lost here, they were different. The first one, I feel like I should have won, but it is [what it is]. Whenever I come to a tournament, I know that I can play well, so I’m happy to finally get the win here in Rome.”
Excellently crafted point 👌@DaniilMedwed | @InteBNLdItalia | #IBI23 pic.twitter.com/sI8IwWFqKu
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 14, 2023
Medvedev managed a potentially tricky opening match with a typically resilient display of baseline hitting. He redirected Ruusuvuori’s powerful groundstrokes to great effect on Court Pietrangeli, where he broke the Finn’s serve five times en route to an 88-minute triumph.
With his Tour-leading 32nd match win of the year, the third-seeded Medvedev improved to 10-0 in opening rounds for 2023. After tasting victory on the Rome clay for the first time in four main-draw appearances, the five-time Masters 1000 champion will seek to maintain his momentum in a third-round clash against Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
“I want to win as many matches as possible,” said Medvedev. “I know it can be a little bit trickier for me on clay, but honestly this year I am playing really well.
“The matches I lost, I lost against great opponents who [just] played better than me and not much [else] to say. I’m doing my absolute best and playing well. I already beat a lot of good opponents. Last week [in Madrid] Emil was one of only two players who won a set against Carlos [Alcaraz], so I’m feeling great and just looking forward to trying to play my best tennis until the end of the clay season.”
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/jLEkdcZ
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