Daniil Medvedev on Toronto Masters: Tough draw even without Rafael Nadal

No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev admitted the rain delay helped him during his Toronto Masters second round clash against Alexander Bublik.

Medvedev, who had a first round bye in Toronto, survived a scare in his Toronto opener as he recovered from a set down to beat Bublik 4-6 6-3 6-4. 

"[The rain delay] helped a lot,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. “I don’t know if the conditions changed with the humidity, but I was not playing well before the rain. I had my opportunities. I was missing second-serve returns, missing balls. I knew I had to play better if I was to win.

“When back on the court, from the first game I felt much better. I only felt better and better during the match, he did not have one break point [after the rain]. I turned around the match completely. It is a tough draw, even without Rafael Nadal. It does open up the draw [though] for sure.”

Medvedev created a comeback 

Medvedev earned his first break of the match in the sixth game of the second set and then served out for a decider in the ninth game.

After winning the second set, Medvedev broke Bublik in the opening game of the third set and held on to his serve the rest of the way to complete a comeback win. 

Medvedev plays next against either Jannik Sinner or James Duckworth.

"I am the top seed so anything except the final will not be a good result,” Medvedev said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I want to play good tennis. I know when I play good tennis on hard courts, I am hard to beat.

“I am keen to win. I know I am capable of beating a lot of guys on hard and I know I can win big tournaments. At the same time, everybody plays well, everybody can beat everybody. It is unpredictable."

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