Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev has secured his first clay-court trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome. The world number two defeated Denmark’s Holger Rune 7-5, 7-5 in the final, earning his fifth title of the year and his 20th overall. This victory moves him to third seed in the men’s singles category at the forthcoming Roland Garros Grand Slam, with Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz taking the first seed.
The Rome final was the first not to feature Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic since 2004. Medvedev had never previously won a match in Rome and claimed to dislike playing on clay. However, he broke Rune’s serve to take the first set before the 20-year-old Dane fought back in the second and took a 2-0 lead. Rune was unable to maintain his momentum, and Medvedev regained the advantage before closing out the match.
Reflecting on his first-time success on clay, Medvedev said: “Honestly, I didn’t believe much I can win a Masters 1000 on clay in my career because usually, I hated it.” However, he has a newfound appreciation for the surface and will be the second seed at Roland Garros, which begins on 28 May.
Medvedev’s career has previously been restricted to hard courts with 18 of his 19 titles coming on this surface. This victory marks an important milestone in the 25-year-old’s career who has previously admitted that he was not comfortable playing on clay.
Speaking about his progress, Medvedev said, “Before this tournament, already in Madrid and Monte-Carlo I was feeling not too bad. Coming here, I felt amazing in practice. But then you need to play the toughest opponents in the world and I’m really happy that I managed to do it and prove to myself and everybody that I’m capable of doing it.”
Medvedev will be looking to build on his success and make further progress in the upcoming Grand Slam.
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