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Second seed to meet Karatsev in fourth round
Daniil Medvedev added a second triumph to his 2023 Mutua Madrid Open campaign on Monday, but not before the second seed was given a real scare by qualifier Alexander Shevchenko at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event.

Medvedev twice rallied from a break down in the deciding set to claim a tense 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 win on Manolo Santana Stadium. He was forced to call on all his renowned defensive abilities to keep the 22-year-old Shevchenko at bay, but held firm in the Madrid heat to seal a two-hour, 43-minute triumph and notch the 300th tour-level win of his career.

“He played well. He’s young, so I’m sure he’s going to up the rankings, especially if he plays like in this tournament,” said Medvedev of Shevchenko, who has risen five spots to No. 91 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run to the third round on his Masters 1000 main-draw debut. "It’s always like this. He’s still young so he has a lot of time to go up.

“I practised with him before, I know that he can play very good, so the more consistent he is [and] the more matches he plays like this, maybe next time he’s going to win and the higher he is going to go. I’m very happy that today I managed to beat him.”

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Shevchenko made a lightning start to his first match against a Top 10 opponent. The 22-year-old forged an ultimately unassailable 5-1 lead in the first set but soon found himself 0-5 down in the second as Medvedev began to counter his opponent’s high-class shotmaking with typical resilience from the baseline.

After forcing a decider, Medvedev trailed 0-2 and then 2-4 in the third set but fended off the upset by staying more solid than Shevchenko in the latter stages. At one point successfully returning 53 serves in a row, Medvedev’s refusal to miss in extended exchanges was key.

“I feel like I played pretty well in the second and third sets, and maybe the end of the first,“ said Medvedev. “The thing about clay [is] usually it is tough for me to start matches for whatever reason. I need a lot of time to get used to everything that is happening on the court. The third set have been a bit better at crucial moments, or maybe a lot better. But finally I won, so that counts also.”


“I remember last game of the first set, when I started playing better and better, I missed two or three and I was like ‘That’s not good’,” added Medvedev on his remarkable returning streak. “That makes a difference, that puts a lot of pressure on your opponent, and maybe that’s why I had so many opportunities on his serve.”

Medvedev holds a Tour-leading 33-4 record the season, a tally which has propelled him to first place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. Now having won consecutive matches in Madrid for the first time, the 27-year-old will hope to continue his red-hot 2023 form in his fourth-round clash against Aslan Karatsev.

The 27-year-old will open against Humbert or Ruusuvuori
Daniil Medvedev has labeled himself a ‘hard-court specialist’, but that doesn’t mean the World No. 3 isn’t looking for answers to develop his game on clay.

Known for his flat groundstrokes and all-court coverage, the 6’6” Medvedev moves exceptionally well. But a few challenges arise when it comes to the red dirt, specifically the unique movement. Heading into the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, Medvedev has been critiquing his game to better suit the clay.

The 27-year-old also revealed a strategy he implements when competing on the surface.

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“[Playing with] some more spin,” Medvedev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “Especially the sliding, I think the sliding was always a problem [for me]. After Madrid, after I lost, a couple days I practised there, I tried to focus on the sliding, on the movement. I felt like I improved in these couple of days.”

A four-time titlist this year, Medvedev arrives at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia boasting a 33-5 season record. Medvedev has been pleased with his form while practising in Rome and hopes to carry a high-level into the tournament.

“I feel great physically. Every day I'm trying to put [together a] strong session and try to work on small things with my coach,” Medvedev said. “It has been working great, so I'm looking forward to try and play the same in the matches because it's never the same.

“These two days [practising], I was playing really good clay tennis. I was not missing many balls here these last two days. It was tough for my opponents. Again, you never know. I say all this, but maybe first match it’s not the case. But it’s good to have some good practice. I was really happy about it.”


Searching for a first win in Rome in his fourth appearance, Medvedev will open against Frenchman Ugo Humbert or World No. 43 Emil Ruusuvuori. The 19-time tour-level titlist is seeded to meet Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals. But you won’t catch Medvedev looking ahead in the draw.

“[I’m] looking forward to the tournament because [I’ve] never won a match [here],” Medvedev said. “So, that's the first goal.”