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Former World No. 1 saves nine set points in opening set
Daniil Medvedev didn’t need to wait long for a confidence-boosting match to kickstart his 2023 season.

The former World No. 1, who ended 2022 on a four-match losing streak, saved nine set points in the first set against Lorenzo Sonego and had recovered an early break in the second when the Italian retired from the match with leg cramps.

“It was crazy. It’s probably the first time I’ve saved nine set points in my life,” said Medvedev, who was leading 7-6(6), 2-1 when the match ended. “What a match to start the year! It was unfortunate for everyone that it had to finish early and I wish Lorenzo a speedy recovery.”


Late in the 81-minute opening set, Medvedev found himself in a world of hurt, first saving six set points at 4-5 after earlier holding a 40/0 lead. In his next service game Medvedev was the one who had to rally, clawing back from 0/40 before forcing a tie-break.

Sonego took the fight to Medvedev, consistently crushing forehands and making several forays to the net to exploit Medvedev’s deep-court position. But the full-frontal attack may have taken its toll. Sonego received treatment on his right arm at the end of the first set and soon after retired with leg cramps.

“It was a great match and I was actually surprised that Lorenzo retired,” Medvedev said. “Great match. I think the level could be better from both of us at some moments, but considering that it’s the first match of the year I feel like it was a great fight.”

World No. 7 Medvedev is looking to re-establish himself in the World's Top 5 after a mixed season in 2022. The 26-year-old spent 16 weeks as World No. 1 but won just two titles during his 45-19 campaign. He finished the year with four consecutive losses, however the last three were third-set tie-break losses to Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Medvedev, who last year pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets in the Australian Open final, next faces Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

Daniil Medvedev had to scratch and claw in his opening match of the season, saving nine set points in his first set of 2023. The former World No. 1 faced no such difficulties on Wednesday.

Medvedev cruised past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the Adelaide International 1 quarter-finals. He will next play Karen Khachanov for a place in the last four.

"It's always better to win 6-0 than to win 7-6 saving nine set points and playing one hour, 20 [minutes]," Medvedev said. "But tennis is not as easy, otherwise everyone would be No. 1, but we have only one. So happy with my level today against a strong opponent. Second set was tougher, but managed to close it out at the end and looking forward to my next matches."

The third seed saved the only break point he faced to triumph after 67 minutes. Medvedev now leads the pair’s ATP Head2Head series 3-0, winning all seven sets they have played.

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Kecmanovic maintained contact in the second set, holding his first three service games. But Medvedev landed the knockout blow at 4-3, delivering a laser-like backhand winner up the line to earn his fourth service break of the match.

If Medvedev and Novak Djokovic both advance to the semi-finals, they will meet in a blockbuster showdown in Adelaide. However, Medvedev will be fully focussed on facing his friend, Khachanov.

"I actually don't remember exactly where was the last time we played," Medvedev said. "We've both changed a lot. He's a very strong opponent, he can beat anybody. He beat Jack today, who is a young guy on the rise, so looking forward to this tough match."

Daniil Medvedev’s impressive start to the 2023 season continued on Friday at the Adelaide International 1, where the World No. 7 downed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals at the hard-court ATP 250 event.

After fending off two break points from 15/40 to hold in his opening service game, the third-seeded Medvedev delivered a commanding quarter-final performance in his first tour-level meeting with Khachanov since 2019. He reeled off four games in a row from 2-3 to claim the first set and did not panic when broken early in the second, winning five straight games from 1-3 to clinch a comfortable 78-minute victory.

“It’s been a long time,” said Medvedev in his on-court interview. “We didn’t play since 2019, that’s pretty long. Hopefully we can play more matches at later stages of tournaments. It’s never easy, I’m happy that I managed to really raise my level, especially at the end of both sets, and I’m really happy to be through to the semis.”


Medvedev is yet to drop a set this week in Adelaide, where he moved past Lorenzo Sonego and Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening two rounds. Fourteen of his 15 tour-level titles have come on hard courts, and he will hope to move one step closer to lifting another trophy on the surface when he takes on top seed Novak Djokovic or seventh seed Denis Shapovalov in the semi-finals.

“I think one of them has a lot of titles and quite likes to play in Australia!” said Medvedev of Djokovic when asked about his potential semi-final opponents. “I think he didn’t lose for a long time here, but I’m going to watch their match.

“You never know what is going to happen. Denis is such a strong player, and even if he didn’t manage to beat Novak yet, this moment is going to come one day, because he is such a strong player.”