Medvedev eyes title defence after win over Shevchenko

Daniil Medvedev, reigning champion at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, got his title defence off to a solid start on Tuesday night, making light work of Alexander Shevchenko on Centre Court.

Making his first appearance since losing in the final of the Australian Open to Jannik Sinner last month, the World No. 4 defeated his Kazakh opponent 6-3, 7-5 in a little under 90 minutes at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, showing few signs of the niggling injuries that have plagued him since his Melbourne loss.

In the first set, the ATP 500 tournament’s top seed broke his opponent’s service game three times in succession to secure the outright lead before, in the second set, he fought back from 3-5 down to win four games in a row and progress to the Round of 16.

Shevchenko, returning after a lengthy period on the sidelines, showed glimpses of the form that took him up to World No. 45 earlier this month. His booming serve, with which he hit six aces, had Medvedev standing so far behind the baseline he was almost in the stands with the fans. Yet the 23-year-old was unable to make it count, faltering in the tenth set while serving to level the tie.

Next up for Medvedev is Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who beat Indian No. 1 Sumit Nagal 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in a gruelling match that saw Nagal play through pain, calling for a medical timeout in the third set. 

Meanwhile on Court 1, 18-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik continued his impressive start to the season, edging Borna Coric 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 after nearly three hours. Mensik, who received a special exemption into the Main Draw after reaching the final of the Qatar Open last week, attracted a strong crowd to the side-courts where fans can watch without tickets. Having saved a match point, World No. 87 held his nerve to progress during the decisive tiebreak.

He will now play Spanish No. 8 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

On the same court, India’s Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden made their first outing since winning the Men’s Doubles at the Australian Open last month. The top seed pairing narrowly defeated wildcards Skander Mansouri and Bopanna’s former playing partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6, 7-6.

MED-NIFICENT 🤩#DDFTennis @atptour pic.twitter.com/Vs5ahkcNQe

— Dubai Tennis Champs (@DDFTennis) February 27, 2024