Tsitsipas, Medvedev 3-Set Winners At Madrid Masters; Alcaraz v Zverev Tues.
On the final day of the third round, former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas had to fight off the 22-year-old Sebastian Baez 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. Baez couldn’t serve out the first putting Tsitsipas ahead.
The Greek fell early in the second going down 3-0 as well; but recovered late in the third, breaking the Baez for 5-3 and then serving it out.
Tsitsipas hit four aces, hit four doubles and struggled winning just 40% on second serves.
Baez drops to 0-7 against Top 5 players and 0-2 against Tsitsipas.
“He made it very difficult for me. Honestly, it was demanding in a lot of ways. I had to bring the best out of my game,” Tsitsipas told the ATP. “He wasn’t missing much. Of course he’s someone that covers and runs around the court pretty well. He definitely utilized that pretty well against me, being able to navigate himself throughout the entire court with ease, just gliding through the court like a cheetah.”
Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev got the better of Alexander Shevchenko in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. The qualifier Shevchenko was on a roll taking the opening set before Medvedev got into gear.
However, the former No. 1 fell behind 4-2 in the decider before rallying past his countryman. The win was Medvedev’s 300th of his career.
“He played well. He’s young, so I’m sure he’s going to up the rankings, especially if he plays like in this tournament,” Medvedev said to the ATP. “It’s always like this. He’s still young so he has a lot of time to go up.
“I practiced with him before, I know that he can play very good, so the more consistent he is the more matches he plays like this, maybe next time he’s going to win and the higher he is going to go. I’m very happy that today I managed to beat him.”
Also on Monday, No. 8 Taylor Fritz got over on Cristian Garin in straights 6-1, 7-6(7-4). Pedro Cachin upset No. 9 seed Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 7-6(7-2).
Zhizhen Zhang ousted the 11th-seeded Cameron Norrie rallying 2-6, 7-6(7-2), 7-6(7-2). Aslan Karatsev took out the 16th-seeded Alex De Minaur in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Jan-Lennard Struff were also winners.
Tomorrow on a full day of men’s fourth round matches, No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz squares off against No. 13 Alexander Zverev in a rematch of their 2022 Madrid final. Zverev has won three of four tour-level encounters when facing Alcaraz including their most recent meeting in the French quarters last year.
There are two all-Russian collisions as Medvedev meets Karatsev and good friends Andrey Rublev will battle No. 10 Karen Khachanov.
Tsitsipas draws Zapata Miralles ,Fritz faces Zhang, No. 17 Borna Coric tests No. 29 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Daniel Altmaier faces Jaume Munar and Cachin will battle Struff.
TUESDAY MADRID MASTERS SCHEDULE
MANOLO SANTANA STADIUM
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP Karen KHACHANOV [10] vs Andrey RUBLEV [5]
Not Before 1:00 PM
WTA Mayar Sherif (EGY) vs Aryna Sabalenka [2]
Not Before 4:00 pm
ATP Carlos ALCARAZ (ESP) [1] vs Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [13]
Not Before 8:00 PM
WTA Maria Sakkari (GRE) [9] vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) [31]
ATP Bernabe ZAPATA MIRALLES (ESP) vs Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [4]
ARANTXA SANCHEZ STADIUM
Starting At: 11:00 am
ATP Jaume MUNAR (ESP) vs [LL] Daniel ALTMAIER (GER)
ATP [Q] Aslan KARATSEV vs Daniil MEDVEDEV [2]
ATP Borna CORIC (CRO) [17] vs Alejandro DAVIDOVICH FOKINA (ESP) [29]
ATP Taylor FRITZ (USA) [8] vs Zhizhen ZHANG (CHN)
ATP [LL] Jan-Lennard STRUFF (GER) vs Pedro CACHIN (ARG)
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