Daniil Medvedev recorded his first win at Roland Garros on his fifth attempt as he swept aside Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 on Monday in Paris.
The second-seeded Russian star came into the clay-court major with a 1-3 record this year on clay, with his sole victory coming over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Mutua Madrid Open. However, Medvedev comfortably overcame World No. 37 Bublik to set up a second round clash against Tommy Paul or Christopher O'Connell.
"It feels great," said Medvedev. "But the most important [thing] is the level of tennis. I've been showing, as I said before the tournament, it was not mind games. My opponent can see I was really feeling good. I managed to play consistent today. I actually played much better in practice than today, so there is room for improvement."
Medvedev led Russia to the ATP Cup crown prior to a run to the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic) in February. He captured his 10th ATP Tour title at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (d. Herbert) one month later and is currently 19-5 on the season.
After a lively start to the contest, where both players broke their opponents serve, mistakes started to leak off Bublik’s racquet as Medvedev pulled away for a 4-2 lead. The World No. 2 continued to dominate proceedings, winning 10 of 12 points on Bublik’s second serve in the first set, with the 23-year-old committing 19 unforced errors. While serving at 3-5, Bublik tamely handed Medvedev the opener as he double faulted for the third time in the set.
Medvedev stormed into a 4-0 lead in the second set, as he continued to capitalise on Bublik’s poor serving display. Bublik managed to gain one of the break’s back and did save two set points at 2-5 after Medvedev had conjured up the second of those with a sensational cross-court forehand. However, his parity was short-lived as Medvedev moved to within one set of victory when Bublik mis-timed a forehand long in the following game.
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Bublik’s deft touch and variety around the net started to cause the Russian a few more problems at the beginning of the third set. This, combined with greater discipline on his groundstrokes saw Bublik break the Medvedev serve at his third opportunity to move 5-3 ahead. Back-to-back double faults from 30/30 saw Medvedev respond immediately and he broke again, prior to holding to love and closing out victory in one hours and 54 minutes.
Bublik, 23, will now shift his focus to the grass swing. The Kazakhstani, who has hit the most aces on the ATP Tour this season (381), has reached the Antalya Open (l. to De Minaur) and Singapore Tennis Open (l. to Popyrin) finals, with a quarter-final showing at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Ruud).
A clay-court stalwart also advanced Monday when 15th seed Casper Ruud battled past home favourite Benoit Paire 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(4).
The Norwegian has played his best tennis on this surface, reaching the semi-finals at the past three clay-court ATP Masters 1000 events he has competed in (2020 Rome, 2021 Monte-Carlo, 2021 Madrid).
Ruud only made 25 unforced errors across three hours of action, while Paire struck 70 unforced errors. The Next Gen ATP Finals alumnus will next face Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, who eliminated French wild card Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The second-seeded Russian star came into the clay-court major with a 1-3 record this year on clay, with his sole victory coming over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the Mutua Madrid Open. However, Medvedev comfortably overcame World No. 37 Bublik to set up a second round clash against Tommy Paul or Christopher O'Connell.
"It feels great," said Medvedev. "But the most important [thing] is the level of tennis. I've been showing, as I said before the tournament, it was not mind games. My opponent can see I was really feeling good. I managed to play consistent today. I actually played much better in practice than today, so there is room for improvement."
Medvedev led Russia to the ATP Cup crown prior to a run to the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic) in February. He captured his 10th ATP Tour title at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (d. Herbert) one month later and is currently 19-5 on the season.
After a lively start to the contest, where both players broke their opponents serve, mistakes started to leak off Bublik’s racquet as Medvedev pulled away for a 4-2 lead. The World No. 2 continued to dominate proceedings, winning 10 of 12 points on Bublik’s second serve in the first set, with the 23-year-old committing 19 unforced errors. While serving at 3-5, Bublik tamely handed Medvedev the opener as he double faulted for the third time in the set.
Medvedev stormed into a 4-0 lead in the second set, as he continued to capitalise on Bublik’s poor serving display. Bublik managed to gain one of the break’s back and did save two set points at 2-5 after Medvedev had conjured up the second of those with a sensational cross-court forehand. However, his parity was short-lived as Medvedev moved to within one set of victory when Bublik mis-timed a forehand long in the following game.
Follow Live Scores At RolandGarros.com
Bublik’s deft touch and variety around the net started to cause the Russian a few more problems at the beginning of the third set. This, combined with greater discipline on his groundstrokes saw Bublik break the Medvedev serve at his third opportunity to move 5-3 ahead. Back-to-back double faults from 30/30 saw Medvedev respond immediately and he broke again, prior to holding to love and closing out victory in one hours and 54 minutes.
Bublik, 23, will now shift his focus to the grass swing. The Kazakhstani, who has hit the most aces on the ATP Tour this season (381), has reached the Antalya Open (l. to De Minaur) and Singapore Tennis Open (l. to Popyrin) finals, with a quarter-final showing at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Ruud).
A clay-court stalwart also advanced Monday when 15th seed Casper Ruud battled past home favourite Benoit Paire 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(4).
The Norwegian has played his best tennis on this surface, reaching the semi-finals at the past three clay-court ATP Masters 1000 events he has competed in (2020 Rome, 2021 Monte-Carlo, 2021 Madrid).
Ruud only made 25 unforced errors across three hours of action, while Paire struck 70 unforced errors. The Next Gen ATP Finals alumnus will next face Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, who eliminated French wild card Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.