The Russian wins his match in straight sets to set up a mouth-watering last-eight date with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
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Second seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Cristian Garin, the 22nd seed, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 on Sunday to reach the last eight at this tournament for the first time. The 25-year-old is now within striking distance of the No. 1 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings. If Medvedev lifts the Coupe des Mousquetaires – the trophy awarded to the winner of the men’s singles competition at the French Open, he will reach World No. 1. Besides, Medvedev will also claim the top spot after the tournament if he reaches the final and current leader Novak Djokovic loses before the championship match.
The Russian will back himself to cause an upset on the back of his impressive run till now in the tournament, which saw him lose just one set en route to the quarterfinals. The World No.2 eliminated Garin, who has won all five of his ATP Tour titles on clay, in two hours and four minutes. Medvedev, who lost serve only once, will next play fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a pulsating clash.
Early in the third set, Medvedev fell behind by a break, but that was the only blip in an otherwise perfect match. Towards the end of his match, he made the crowd go wild, hitting impressive winners. In all truth, the Russian was a level ahead of the Chilean. The 10-time ATP Tour titlist struck 14 aces and a total of 46 winners. Notably, Medvedev is the 11th Russian man to reach the last eight at Roland Garros in the Open Era.
Tsitsipas had to survive a tough third set, but otherwise, was in cruise control against Pablo Carreno Busta in Paris. He won the match 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the Roland Garros quarterfinals. Tsitsipas needed two hours and six minutes to wrap the match and has dropped just one set through four matches. He hit 41 winners and only made 17 unforced errors in an impressive display.
The Greek player, who reached the semifinals in Paris last year, registered his 20th clay-court victory of 2021. However, Tsitsipas will have a real fight in his hands when he takes on Medvedev next. The second seed Russian leads the Greek 6-1 in their ATP head-to-head series.
