ATP Tour

Medvedev finds swift adjustment to overcome Merida, reach Vienna R2

Daniil Medvedev arrived at the Erste Bank Open off the back of winning his fourth ATP Tour title of the year, but that did not mean a completely smooth start to his title bid in Vienna.

The third-seeded Medvedev recovered after a slow opening few games to down Daniel Merida 7-6(5), 6-1 and notch his Tour-leading 39th hard-court win of the year. Merida led 4-1 early at the Wiener Stadthalle, but last week’s Almaty champion Medvedev ultimately claimed an 88-minute triumph to extend his winning streak to five matches.

Medvedev will take on Cameron Norrie in the second round in Vienna, where he lifted the trophy in 2022. The 30-year-old will hope he has now completely adjusted to the conditions in the Austrian capital, after admitting he initially struggled with the contrast from Almaty.

“It’s just a matter of trying your best, because even if a court is slow or fast, I won on many courts, and even on different surfaces,” the former World No. 1 said. “I just needed to try my best and get used to it, because it’s not easy when on Sunday you are playing on one court, and Wednesday on another one. It’s a good win, I’m looking forward to the next one.”

With his first-round victory, Medvedev jumped above Flavio Cobolli into fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. The 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion, he is bidding to qualify for the prestigious season finale for the seventh time, having made six consecutive appearances from 2019 to 2024.

Tallon Griekspoor, who like Medvedev claimed an ATP 250 trophy on Sunday by winning Brussels, was also an early winner in Vienna on Wednesday. He edged Brandon Nakashima 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2) to advance to face top seed Alexander Zverev.

Zverev leads Griekspoor 9-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, although the Dutchman won the pair’s most recent meeting in August in Montreal. Should Zverev win and reach the quarter-finals in Vienna, he will ensure he on Monday rises to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time.