Medvedev eyes title defence after win over Shevchenko

Daniil Medvedev, reigning champion on the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, received his title defence off to a stable begin on Tuesday evening, making gentle work of Alexander Shevchenko on Centre Court.

Making his first look since shedding within the ultimate of the Australian Open to Jannik Sinner final month, the World No. 4 defeated his Kazakh opponent 6-3, 7-5 in a bit below 90 minutes on the Dubai Tennis Stadium, exhibiting few indicators of the niggling accidents which have plagued him since his Melbourne loss.

In the primary set, the ATP 500 match’s high seed broke his opponent’s service sport 3 times in succession to safe the outright lead earlier than, within the second set, he fought again from 3-5 all the way down to win 4 video games in a row and progress to the Round of 16.

Shevchenko, returning after a prolonged interval on the sidelines, confirmed glimpses of the shape that took him as much as World No. 45 earlier this month. His booming serve, with which he hit six aces, had Medvedev standing up to now behind the baseline he was nearly within the stands with the followers. Yet the 23-year-old was unable to make it rely, faltering within the tenth set whereas serving to degree the tie.

Next up for Medvedev is Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who beat Indian No. 1 Sumit Nagal 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in a gruelling match that noticed Nagal play by ache, calling for a medical timeout within the third set. 

Meanwhile on Court 1, 18-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik continued his spectacular begin to the season, edging Borna Coric 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 after almost three hours. Mensik, who acquired a particular exemption into the Main Draw after reaching the ultimate of the Qatar Open final week, attracted a powerful crowd to the side-courts the place followers can watch with out tickets. Having saved a match level, World No. 87 held his nerve to progress throughout the decisive tiebreak.

He will now play Spanish No. 8 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

On the identical courtroom, India’s Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden made their first outing since profitable the Men’s Doubles on the Australian Open final month. The high seed pairing narrowly defeated wildcards Skander Mansouri and Bopanna’s former taking part in associate Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6, 7-6.

MED-NIFICENT 🤩#DDFTennis @atptour pic.twitter.com/Vs5ahkcNQe

— Dubai Tennis Champs (@DDFTennis) February 27, 2024