Daniil Medvedev surged into the quarter-finals of Indian Wells by beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4.
Medvedev, who’s taking part in in solely his third event of the season, completed runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz 12 months in the past at Indian Wells, which is seen by many as tennis’ unofficial fifth main.
The Russian will face Denmark’s Holger Rune or USA’s Taylor Fritz within the final eight.
“It’s not easy for everyone to play here, especially this year because they changed the balls and it’s even tougher to control it,” mentioned Medvedev.
“It’s tough and also when it is windy and the sand comes on the courtroom, it feels prefer it’s 10 instances quicker.
“I’m trying my best and I’m happy to beat a great opponent. I played well and was really consistent.”
The opening 4 video games have been shared earlier than Dimitrov crumbled on serve as a double fault handed Medvedev the decisive break within the first set.
Medvedev had three set factors at 5-3 however didn’t take them earlier than managing to carry serve and win the opening set in 36 minutes.
It seemed like this 12 months’s Australian Open runner-up was going to take a simple win when he broke within the third sport of the second set however Dimitrov confirmed some combating spirit by breaking again.
However, unforced errors started to reappear in Dimitrov’s sport and he was damaged once more with a double fault proving pricey once more as Medvedev went 4-3 up and this time the Russian held serve to win in straight units.
Ruud ends Monfils’ run
Elsewhere, Casper Ruud ended Frenchman Gael Monfils’ run at Indian Wells with a marathon 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 victory and will face Tommy Paul within the quarters after the American introduced fortunate loser Luca Nardi again right down to earth with a straight units win
After struggling to place winners past the athletic Monfils within the opening set, the ninth-seeded Norwegian grew to become extra aggressive in a good second set and rolled by way of the tiebreak.
Ruud lastly broke his 37-year-old opponent for a 3-1 lead within the deciding set and cruised to the end.
“I felt physically good and ready,” mentioned Ruud, who’s but to win an ATP Masters occasion.
“Really tough second set, it fortunately went my way. I saved a few break points there and was clutch enough in the tiebreak.”
A pleasant second got here when Monfils walked to the service line trailing 3-5 within the third and the gang rose to their ft to cheer on the fan favorite, who smiled extensively and waved his racket in appreciation earlier than holding serve.
After pulling off a shocking victory over world No 1 Novak Djokovic on Monday, Nardi was served a dose of actuality by Paul, who hit 5 aces and by no means dropped serve on path to a business-like 6-4 6-3 win.
The 20-year-old Italian known as his win over his idol Djokovic within the prior spherical a “miracle” however his luck ran out in opposition to hometown hero Paul, who has received only one match in 5 conferences with Ruud.
How to observe play on Sky Sports Tennis
Sky Sports will broadcast extra stay tennis than anyplace else, bringing over 4,000 matches from greater than 80 tournaments a 12 months on the ATP and WTA Tours, as effectively as full protection of the US Open, all completely stay.
Non-Sky subscribers can stream stay matches with a NOW Sports Day and Month Membership, through Sky Sports Tennis, Sky Sports Arena, and Sky Sports Mix channels.
For additional entry, followers will also have the ability to observe their favorite gamers and achieve deeper insights from each Tours through Sky Sports News, the Sky Sports app, on SkySports.com and through Sky Sports social channels.
Get Sky Sports on WhatsApp!
You can now begin receiving messages and alerts for the most recent breaking sports activities information, evaluation, in-depth options and movies from our devoted WhatsApp channel!
Find out extra right here
Watch the WTA and ATP Tours all through 2024 on Sky Sports Tennis. Stream Sky Sports Tennis and extra with a NOW Sports Month Membership – no contract, cancel anytime.
Discussion about this post