Medvedev finally conquers the clay challenge

Daniil Medvedev He was finally able to collect his biggest debt in tennis: winning a tournament on the clay court. The Russian has become a figure in world tennis since in 2017 he began to accumulate his 19 titles from level 250 to Grand Slamsbut his only weak point was clay, which he beat this weekend in Rome.

Faced with the uncertainty of the fans in the Foro Italico due to heavy rain that delayed the final for an hour and 40 minutes, Medvedev managed to defeat Holger Rune in two sets 7-5, 7-5 to win title number 20 of his career but with a very special flavor, given the spell he had on clay.

“I always want to believe in myself and I always want to win the biggest tournaments in the world. But at the same time, he didn’t think he could win a Masters 1000 on clay in my career because I usually hated it, hated playing on it. I wasn’t feeling well and nothing was working,” the 27-year-old Russian said after the award ceremony.

Prior to the rune battle, Medvedev had only played in 1 of his 32 ATP Tour finals on clay and that was four years ago, when he lost to Austrian Dominic Thiem at the Barcelona Open (level ATP 500). After that, his path had another 25 fights for a championship, but spread between hard court and grass.

Daniil arrived in Rome as the favorite thanks to his prolific season, although what held back his name as a candidate was that bad momentum on clay. Before the tournament at the Foro Italico, he had five finals and four titles: the ATP 500 in Rotterdam, the 250 in Qatar, the 500 in Dubai and the Masters in Miami.

In Italy he had his first tests against Emil Ruusuvuori and Bernabé Zapata Miralles, but it was until the round of 16 when he ran into a top 20, the German Alexander Zverev, whom he had also faced in Monte Carlo and Indian Wells this season. Then he shut out the surprising Yannick Hanfmann and Stefanos Tsitsipas to get to the last duel against Rune.

The 20-year-old Dane was trying to become the youngest player to win the title in Rome since Rafael Nadal, then 19, lifted the trophy in 2006. Holger Rune defeated Novak Djokovic and Casper in this edition on Italian clay Ruud en route to the final, and boasts a 7-2 record against top 5 opponents.

However, after trailing 5-3 games in the second set, Medvedev he took mental and tactical control of the game to finish with the same set of the first episode, 7-5, in which he had already won 83% of the points he played with his first serve.

“I think we were both a bit nervous at the beginning and we lacked our fundamentals. We missed some easy shots, so I’m glad we managed to step up at the end of the first set. But then, early in the second set, he stepped up and I said to myself: ‘Now is when I have to start playing better and catch up with him,’” the Russian shared.

With this victory, Medvedev leads the list of the most men’s singles championships so far this season with five, leaving Spanish Carlos Alcaraz in second place with four. Those positions are repeated in the qualification for the ATP Finals, where the Russian is first with 4,300 points and the Iberian second with 3,455; the third place is occupied by the Serb Novak Djokovic con 2,745.

“Before this tournament, already in Madrid and Monte Carlo, I didn’t feel too bad. Then when I got here I felt really good in practice and I said to my coach, ‘I don’t know what’s going on but I feel great so let’s see how it goes.’ But then you have to play against the toughest opponents in the world to try and get it. I am very happy to have achieved it and to prove to myself and to everyone else that I am capable of doing it.”

Another special ingredient in Medvedev’s title in Rome 2023 is that he became the Russian tennis player with the most crowns in category tournaments. Masters 1000 reaching a total of six, breaking his tie with Marat Safin, who won five between 2000 and 2004. It’s a complete opposite story to what he had experienced in Italy, having never won a match in his previous three appearances there before this season.

Daniil also pocketed 1.22 million dollars after winning at the Foro Italico, while the young Rune was left with 640,594 with the runner-up. Both will arrive thirsty for victory at Roland Garros, a tournament where the crown is vacant after the loss of Rafael Nadal, champion of the 2022 edition.

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