Canada Flashback: Defending champion Alexander Zverev eases past Daniil Medvedev

The 20-year-old German Alexander Zverev claimed his second Masters 1000 title in Montreal 2017, returning to the Canada Open in Toronto a year later as the 2nd seed behind Rafael Nadal. In the third round, Alexander faced a qualifier Daniil Medvedev and scored a massive 6-3, 6-2 victory in 53 minutes for a place in the quarters. Zverev was too strong for Medvedev on that day, taking 56 out of 86 points and having the upper hand on both serve and return. The German lost four points behind the initial shot in one of his finest performances ever on the Tour. On the other hand, the Russian faced three break chances and got broken at each to propel the rival through.

Alexander tamed his strokes nicely and kept the opponent at under ten winners, beating Daniil in the shortest and more advanced rallies for a relaxed day at the office. In one of his rare mistakes, Zverev sent a forehand long in the second game to bring Medvedev to the scoreboard and held at love a few minutes later for a 2-1 advantage.

Alexander Zverev sailed past Daniil Medvedev in Toronto 2018.

The German fired another unreturned serve in the fifth game before the Russian responded with the same shot to lock the result at 3-3 after just 18 minutes. Alexander grabbed the first break at 4-3 when Daniil sprayed a forehand mistake and landed three winners in the next one to secure the opener 6-3 after 28 minutes.

The Russian held at 15 at the beginning of the second set and could not do the same at 1-1 when the German grabbed a break to move in front. Zverev held with three winners in the next one and caught a break at love to open a 4-1 advantage. Firing from all cylinders, Alexander landed an ace to increase the lead and force Daniil to serve for staying in the match. Medvedev claimed the seventh game with an ace, and that was all we saw from him, as Zverev placed three winners in game eight to seal the deal and sail into the quarters, where he faced another youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas. It was a solid tournament for Medvedev after all, and he would return a year later to reach the final at the Canada Open.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3fYtyvH