Medvedev beat his opponent 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in what was an absolute classic match between two of the best players in world tennis today.
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Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev advanced to the last eight of the 2023 Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday after a hard-fought win over 12th seed Alexander Zverev. Medvedev beat his opponent 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in what was an absolute classic match between two of the best players in world tennis today. The world no. 6 hit 12 aces and committed only five double faults in the tie. His win percentage on the first and second serves were 74% and 62% respectively. He also returned three out of eight available break points.
Zverev, on the other hand, recorded seven aces and committed fewer double faults with three. His win percentage on the first and second serves were 71% and 61% respectively, and he only returned two out of 17 break points, which ultimately proved to be crucial.
Medvedev has been on a tear ever since the conclusion of the Australian Open in January. He has won three tournaments in a row, Rotterdam Open, Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. The Russian will be hopeful of winning the sunshine double (Indian Wells and Miami Open) during his time in the US this month and with Novak Djokovic presumably out of the picture, it could very well happen.
At 2-3 in the second set, the fifth seed lost his footing and fell, rolling his right ankle and yelping in agony. He continued, though, and flipped the match after having his ankle taped. “When I twisted [my ankle], I thought I was going to stand up just fine,” Medvedev said. “But then the pain started growing very fast, so I was like ‘That is not a good sign.’ I felt like I didn’t break it but I felt that one of the ligaments was a little injured, so I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play. It was one of the first times in my life that the physio had taped my ankle, so I decided to give it a try. What was surprising was it was much easier to run than walk. So when I was walking I was limping and then I was running fine.”
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“When the adrenaline goes down, it will be pretty painful, so I am going to probably do a scan to see what it is and if I can continue to play.”
Medvedev saved all 10 break points he faced in the second set after dropping the first set, twice coming back from 0/40. He then produced a stunning defensive smash at 1/1 to tie the game in the tie-break. In the third set, Medvedev came back after blowing a match point at 5-4 on serve when Zverev broke. Nevertheless, Medvedev would not be deterred and broke once more after Zverev committed a double fault. He then held serve to win the match after three hours and sixteen minutes.
