Tennis
Medvedev shocked his opponent with a strange trick. I had to repent and apologize
Photo: © © Panoramic / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press, Clive Brunskill / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Already in the third round of the tournament in Monte Carlo, Daniil played with top rival Zverev. And he should have lost in the second set.
Meetings of Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, no matter what form the tennis players are in, guarantee the audience the maximum intensity of emotions. After the injury, the German is gradually returning to the level of last year and really shows himself as a top player.
In Monte Carlo, Medvedev’s opponent could finish the meeting already in the second set, but Danya psychologically outplayed Zverev at an important moment. To do this, he needed to resort to branded tricks: shocking and arrogance.
The Russian saved the match in an incredible fight, but he had to apologize for it!
New experience
Unlike last season, when Alexander Zverev had the status of one of the main favorites at the prestigious clay tournament in Monte Carlo and was seeded under the second number, now the German had to restore his position: play from the first round, tormented by Alexander Bublik’s tricky serves.
Zverev even lost the first set in the tournament, but then rectified the situation. He passed the Kazakhstani, beat the Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Aguta in the second round and already in the third round he got on Medvedev. Daniil played only one match by the third round, without feeling the resistance of Lorenzo Sonego.
Naturally, it was foolish to wait for a quiet game with the German. Exactly a month ago, in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, the guys fought in a three-set duel with two tie-breaks, but then the Russian caught the luck (6:7, 7:6, 7:5). True, in the end, at this tournament, Medvedev lost his only of five finals this year to Carlos Alcaraz.
The new meeting of rivals became history even before it began, since it was the first time tennis players played each other on the ground. They played the previous 14 matches on hard surfaces, and the Russian had a slight advantage: 8-6.
Enchanted Grid
The beginning of the meeting was left for our athlete: Danya quickly made a break, which, it would seem, should have greatly facilitated his path to victory. But the serve is the strong side of the Russian – he, as they say, did not fly. Zverev, on the other hand, clung to practical jokes at the reception and forced Medvedev to make mistakes.
As a result, the German not only made a reverse break, but also won four games in a row, leading 5:2 in the set. The fifth racket of the world did not manage to correct the situation, and the start of the match was left to the 26-year-old athlete from Germany – 3:6.
Daniil started the second game in a more collected manner again, who immediately organized a break and took the lead 2:0. But then everything went wrong, as we are used to seeing in men’s tennis. Zverev again made a reverse break, then gave his pitch, and then played it again on Medvedev’s serve. The cycle of mistakes and tight play, in which our tennis player was still leading – 3:2.
In almost every game, the opponents imposed long rallies on each other, which simply left no strength. Fortunately, it was quite cool in Monte Carlo, unlike Miami, where Dani lost seven pots in each match.
In the seventh game, finally, the Russian took his pitch to zero (4:3), but this did not mean anything at all. The next time, he already makes two double faults in a row at 30:30 and gives Zverev the opportunity to serve for the match: 4:5.
Feeling that this was the decisive moment of the entire meeting, Danya, heading to his chair, approached the net and literally pried a special support post from it, designed to maintain the tension of the cable. Zverev stood two meters away and watched in shock as Medvedev, placing the counter next to him, silently walked to his seat.
Photo: © Jean Catuffe / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ruThe referee of the match, Carlos Bernardes, also calmly got down from the tower and returned the equipment to its place. Amazing and inexplicable scene.
Whistle of native fans
Apparently, these mysterious manipulations confused Zverev and gave Daniil strength. In the most important game, his work was close to ideal, and in long draws he did not leave a chance for his opponent. Having earned two break points, Danya equalized the score – 5:5
And then the public got involved. In Monte Carlo, where Medvedev lives with his family, the audience sympathized with the German for almost the entire match. But in the moment with the first draw in the 11th game, they were on the side of Dani.
Having made a mistake in the draw, Medvedev showed the judge that the opponent had an out. However, the referee tried to convince the Russian that the trace of the ball referred to by the player was from another draw. The stadium began to whistle so that even the Russian, resigned to the decision of Bernardes, decided to calm the audience.
Nevertheless, he managed to pick up the pitch, and then make the most important break and win the second set – 7:5.
Iron nerves
Again had to play the third set. Here, each tennis player was extremely collected and did not allow himself to squander the serve so easily. With the score 3:2 in favor of Daniil, the longest game took place on Zverev’s serve. Our player had five break points, but none of them could be converted.
At the same time, it must be admitted that in the final game the game was better given to the Russian: he imposed a fight in every game on Zverev’s serve and easily took his own. According to this logic, sooner or later Medvedev had to make a break, but the opposite happened. With the score 4:4, Zverev unexpectedly converted a break point from the very first game in the third game and again went to serve for the match.
This game would not have become a decoration of the tournament, if not for such a number of coincidences. Apparently, even the German did not believe that the opponent would be able to pull off a small miracle twice in a match, so he worked on his serve uncombined. Danya outright won the tenth game and walked away from defeat.
According to the law of the genre, everything had to be decided in a tie-break. Medvedev started it excellently: 5:2 and three hidden match points. But then Zverev turned the tie-break and won four draws in a row. Medvedev responded with two match points, and then confidently converted the first attempt to finish the fight in his favor.
Zverev quickly walked past the opponent, coldly shaking Danya’s hand. Our player in the hearts threw: “I behaved like shit, I’m sorry.”
It’s no secret that Medvedev on and off the court are two different people. Naturally, the antics of the Russian added problems to Zverev, but ultimately the German can only blame himself. With so many matches, it’s time to learn not to react to Medvedev’s behavior and not let him knock you off the right frame of mind.
In the meantime, Alexander will hone this skill, Daniil will have to play in the quarterfinals with the Dane Holger Rune.
Source: Sportbox
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