Tennis
Daniil Medvedev Wins His Very First ATP Clay-Court Title at Italian Open
by privatebet.com - 2023/05/23
Daniil Medvedev never had much luck on clay, but his luck finally turned in Rome this weekend! The Russian tennis player defeated Holger Rune in the Italian Open final and ended up taking his very first clay-court title home. Medvedev cruised past Yannick Hanfmann and Stefanos Tsitsipas on his way to the final, but beating Rune wasn’t an easy task. The Danish player really gave him a run for his money, but Medvedev eventually managed to come out victorious, beating him 7-5 7-5. This victory is a huge deal for the Russian player since its marks the first time he won an ATP title on clay, and he openly admitted that he hates playing on this surface. "Honestly, I didn't believe I could win a Masters 1,000 on clay in my career. Usually, I hated it, I hated playing on it, I didn't feel good on it. Nothing was working. I don't think I love it. I love hard court - my only love in tennis - but I definitely like clay courts much more now," said Medvedev. This marks his fifth title of the year so far, and he won enough ATP points in Rome to rise to the second spot in the world rankings, right behind Novak Djokovic.