After a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-2 victory, Daniil Medvedev (ATP 14) was finally able to smile again. After 2 hours and 18 minutes, he had subdued the stubborn Portuguese Nuno Borges (ATP 47). In the opening set, a late break was enough for the Moscow native to take the lead. In the second, Medvedev struggled on serve but managed to fend off all three break points against him. As a result, the set went to a tiebreak, where Medvedev held two match points but failed to convert either. Moments later, a double fault handed Borges the set.
The setback, however, seemed to spur Medvedev on. In the decider, the 29-year-old left nothing to chance, breaking the Portuguese outsider twice and closing out the match with confidence.
Medvedev now faces France’s Corentin Moutet in the round of 16. Moutet impressed in his opening match, blasting past Bosnian qualifier Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-0. The clash will be a rematch of last Sunday’s Almaty final, where Medvedev prevailed in three sets against the Frenchman.
