Bautista Agut Upsets Medvedev, Advances To Halle SFs

Roberto Bautista Agut delivered a clean-hitting performance Friday to upset top seed Daniil Medvedev at the Terra Wortmann Open.

The Spaniard downed Medvedev 7-5, 7-6(3) to earn his fifth Lexus ATP Head2Head win against the World No. 3, who defeated Bautista Agut last year in Halle en route to a finalist finish.

"I think to beat Daniil on this court, you have to play really good," Bautista Agut said in his on-court interview. "I did not feel good some months this year, but I kept working hard. I know tennis is sometimes very difficult, but today it showed up that I've been working hard. It showed up that a lot of things, I have been working on and I'm very happy because I played very good tennis."

Forehand running the show 📺🎾@BautistaAgut knocks out Medvedev with...

9️⃣.4️⃣ Forehand #ShotQuality
🔝 4 winning plays all with the Forehand #TennisInsights | @atptour | @ATPHalle pic.twitter.com/BShuOF5pt4

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) June 23, 2023

Bautista Agut, 35, held the advantage in extended rallies and countered Medvedev’s deep return position by showcasing drop shots and closing points at net. A semi-finalist in Halle five years ago, Bautista Agut stated that his flat groundstrokes are part of the reason why he plays well on grass. 

"I think I can move well on grass, I think I'm fast," Bautista Agut said. "My shots are flat and the most important thing is that I enjoy playing on this surface."

Medvedev, who holds a 41-8 season record, will next be in action at Wimbledon. He leads the ATP Tour with the most wins in 2023.

Andrey Rublev is next up for World No. 23 Bautista Agut in Halle. The third seed, a finalist at the ATP 500 in 2021, battled back for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Tallon Griekspoor to close Friday's play.

Rublev improved to 2-0 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head, with their previous meeting earlier this season in Rotterdam. Now 4-2 in tour-level quarter-finals this season, Rublev ended the seven-match winning run of Griekspoor, who claimed the 's-Hertogenbosch title last week and saved a match point to beat Hubert Hurkacz in the Halle second round.

Rublev also lifted his lifetime grass record to 14-6 with the win, moving within two matches of his first ATP Tour title on the surface.