Daniil Medvedev through to the last-16 of Wimbledon for the first time in his career; Alexander Zverev overcame a stern challenge from Taylor Fritz to book a meeting with Felix Auger in the fourth round.
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Daniil Medvedev came from two sets down to beat former Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 2-6 on Saturday. The Russian is now through to his first appearance at the last-16 of Wimbledon 2021. Meanwhile Australian Nick Kyrgios was forced to retire against Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime in the third round tennis encounter earlier in the day. And Alexander Zverev beat American Taylor Fritz to book a place in the fourth round.
It was the first time in his career that Medvedev had won a match after losing the first two sets. 2017 US Open champion Cilic couldn’t keep up his dominant start as he committed 68 unforced errors to lose the remaining three sets.
“My first one at Wimbledon. What is amazing is that two times at Wimbledon in the past, I was two sets down. Against David Goffin in 2019, I came back and had a break in fifth set and lost. When I went to the toilet today after the fourth set, I thought I am not going to allow this to happen again.
“When it went to 5-2, I thought ‘oh no’. I am really happy to come back and win the match.”
The 25-year-old will next take on Polish 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the round of 16.
Earlier in the day, Kyrgios, after winning the first set 6-2 lost the second 1-6 and called it quits before the start of the third set due to an abdominal injury. It was the 26-year-old’s first major tournament since the pandemic took hold. Meanwhile the winner Aliassime will take on Zverev in the fourth round match on Monday.
Zverev reached the fourth round of Wimbledon for only the second time in his career after overcoming a stern challenge from American Fritz. The German triumphed 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 and said “I think it (experience in the 2nd week of Majors) is very important. I think that’s why the Big 3 has been so dominant in Grand Slams,”
Zverev said “Experience plays a big part, knowing how to manage your time, knowing how to manage your matches is a big part of it. It is something I needed to learn at the beginning of my career.”
