Daniil Medvedev confident he can win US Open despite disappointing Cincinnati exit

Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev remained in positive spirits after suffering a disappointing loss at the Cincinnati Masters and failing to defend his title. 

Medvedev, seeded at No. 3, appeared to be cruising toward a dominant victory over world No. 12 Roberto Bautista Agut in their quarterfinal clash but the Spaniard recovered after a horrible first set to win 1-6 6-4 6-3. 

After a first round bye, fifth-ranked Medvedev saw off American Marcos Giron in straight sets in the second round. 

The Russian then backed up his Giron win with a straight-set round-of-16 win over Slovenian Aljaz Bedene.

Medvedev handed a straight-set defeat to Belgian David Goffin in last year's Cincinnati Masters final to claim his maiden Masters title.

The Russian was playing his first tournament since February as he didn't play in any exhibitions that took place prior to the season restart.

"I'm quite happy with my level of tennis. I honestly thought it would be worse, so that's the good part," Medvedev said after losing to Bautista Agut, per Ravi Ubha. 

Medvedev enters the US Open confident 

Medvedev was aiming to kick off the season with a victory at the Cincinnati Masters but he was knocked out in the quarterfinal despite easily winning the first set. 

However, his confidence remains high as he believes he will be a top contender to win it all at the US Open if he brings the same level of play to the upcoming Grand Slam event.

Last year, Medvedev made his maiden Grand Slam final at the US Open, before losing to 19-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. 

Medvedev recovered from two sets down in the US Open final but world No. 2 Nadal kept his focus to prevent the Russian from making a huge comeback. 

"If I show the tennis that I showed here, I think I have good chances to make a good tournament," Medvedev said.

Medvedev got off to a fast start, winning the opening five games of the match, before he served out for the opener in the seventh game.

After breaking Bautista Agut for a 4-3 lead in the second set, the match appeared to be over but the Spaniard claimed back-to-back breaks to force a decider. 

Medvedev started the third set with a break in the opening game but failed to hold on to his serve as Bautista Agut broke him twice to claim the win.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2EL3CnO