The Russian won on Sunday in the Wiener Stadthalle against the unseeded Denis Shapovalov in 2:17 hours 4:6,6:3,6:2, but was challenged by the Canadian the most this week. Medvedev is a permanent fixture at the ATP Finals in Turin thanks to his performance at the ATP 500 tennis tournament and has improved from fourth to third place in the world rankings. Shapovalov moves up from 19th to 16th.
It was only his second title on the tour for the North American, despite having been in the top ten before. And he got off to a great start. He took the serve from Medvedev to make it 2-1, something that hadn’t happened to the Russian in the previous tournament. The 26-year-old only allowed one breakball in his first four games, which he fended off in the round of 16 in a 6: 3.6: 3 against local hero Dominic Thiem. But Shapovalov followed up with an excellent return performance to make it 4:1 and later served to lead the set.
Medvedev managed at least one rebreak and showed that he doesn’t want to give up easily. He initially took the service from his opponent in the second round, but Shapovalov was always on the trigger as a setback and used his sixth chance for a rebreak. However, Medvedev once again found an answer and the way to equalize sentences. A break to 2:1 was the preliminary decision. The hard-working Shapovalov, looked after by his compatriot Peter Polansky, fended off six match points, but couldn’t get close.
It is Medvedev’s second title this year after the one in Los Cabos in Mexico in early August and his 15th overall on the tour. The 2021 US Open winner got 14 of them on hard court, seven each indoor and outdoor. In the head-to-head, Medvedev increased to 4: 2, Shapovalov after three 0: 2 defeats in a row at least managed to win a set again against the ex-world number one. Medvedev missed being the third player this year after Nick Kyrgios (AUS/Washington) and Taylor Fritz (USA/Eastbourne) to win a title without a break.
Source: Nachrichten
