Our tennis players in Madrid pleased the fans by reaching the 1/8 final stage. The most striking match at this stage was expected from Medvedev.

Dani’s opponent was the flamboyant Alexander Bublik. The tennis player, who previously attracted attention due to his controversial behavior on the court, is now good at playing actions.

The spectators saw cool tennis, in which composure triumphed over emotions.

Great Expectations

For Medvedev, after a quick and unexpected departure from Khachanov to Monte Carlo, the “thousandth” in the capital of Spain is also not going well. Before meeting with the Kazakh, Danya lost one set in each match. At the same time, in yesterday’s game with Korda, everything could have ended unsuccessfully for the Russian, but the tiebreaker he won in the second set turned the tide of the meeting.

Daniil Medvedev / Photo: © NurPhoto / Contributor / NurPhoto / Gettyimages.ru

Bublik had a similar path in this sense: he also lost the first game to Shelton and won the second only in the decisive 13th game. Considering such situations, in 1/8 the public could see completely different faces. But it’s hardly possible to come up with a more interesting match.

Some of the most vocal players on the tour gave hope for another performance. True, Bublik has never beaten Medvedev in five meetings, but it is this season that Alexander shows his best tennis, climbing to 18th place in the ATP rankings. Promising.

Danya, on the contrary, plays unevenly, and now has a chance to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in Madrid – the only Masters where our player did not manage to get that far.

Unexpected ending

Knowing how poorly Medvedev sometimes starts matches, his opponent chose a technique. But, as it turned out, it was in vain. Bublik was unable to catch the serve of the fourth racket of the world, as, in fact, Dani was later unable to do so.

Only in the fifth game did break points appear. Moreover, our opponent’s player has three at once. On the second attempt with a reverse cross, Alexander realized the advantage and took the lead: 3:2. But, as happens quite often, the Russian immediately tried to regain what he had lost by imposing a fight on his opponent. Bublik comfortably led 40:15 on his serve, but failed to win the game. Medvedev promptly restored parity.

In general, the match has not yet looked like what many were expecting. Medvedev was silent in concentration, Bublik occasionally spoke to the stands, but was far from his usual manner. Only once, after losing a long rally, Sasha complained that it was impossible to run over Danya. Of course, Bublik used unprintable words.

Alexander Bublik / Photo: © Julian Finney / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The matter confidently reached a tiebreaker, where Bublik fell apart. The short shots with which Sasha tortured Danya now flew into the net. Medvedev also got used to the strong serve. The Kazakh lost the first six draws dry. Anyone in such a situation could panic, but Alexander, in his characteristic manner, decided to relax and served it with his hand. This gave the Kazakh strength for a while, and he won three draws. However, Medvedev’s advantage was too great, so the Russian brought the game to victory: 7:6 (7:3)

Believed in victory early

Bublik didn’t take a pause between games, although he should have. At least Sasha immediately lost his game and, naturally, got seriously worked up: he smashed his racket on the ground, complaining about his failure. This had an effect on Medvedev – Dani’s amazed look spoke for itself.

Perhaps it was partly relaxing, since in the second game our player gave his opponent a chance for a reverse break, which Alexander did not take advantage of. Then, instead of tennis, we saw a stand-up concert from a Kazakh.

Alexander Bublik / Photo: © Mateo Villalba / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Conversations with the audience, hand serves, malicious ridicule – there was all this in abundance:

“He just cooked me.” Usually I do this, but now he,” Bublik said directly to the camera with a smile on his face when the score was 0:4.

Alexander picked up two games with relaxed movements, but it was hard to believe in a real comeback. But in vain. Danya failed the eighth game, which should have been the last. The second break in the match revived the intrigue: 3:5. Then Bublik took his serve, but that was the end of the fight. Danya did not allow his emotions to come out and calmly finished the match: 7:6, 6:4.

Bublik received applause as he said goodbye to the Spanish public, and Medvedev reached the quarterfinals of Madrid for the first time in his career. Nadal or Legechka are ahead.