Medvedev downs Wawrinka as Tsitsipas advance in Rotherham

Daniil Medvedev was put through his paces Monday, but remains alive upon return to the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.

The second seed rallied to an entertaining 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-1 triumph over fellow former champion Stan Wawrinka. Medvedev let slip two set points in the first set, but recovered well to move into the second round at the indoor hard-court ATP 500 in Rotterdam in his first appearance since he won the title in 2023.

“When you have some confidence, you win some sets which you should lose. When you don’t have the confidence, you lose some sets which you should win,” Medvedev said when asked of his reaction to losing the first set. “I was like ‘I’m not playing so bad at the moment’, so if I continued to push and try to play better it could work out, and I am happy that it did. Hopefully I can play better and better in the next matches.

“He played good, but it’s Stan, he always plays good. Of course, he is not at his peak when he was winning Grand Slams. I never played him when he was at this level, and it’s a pity because I would love it as a challenge. I am pretty sure there would be some matches where he would chop me, and somewhere I would fight. Stan is also an amazing guy. In my opinion, he is one of the humblest, nicest guys on Tour.”

Wawrinka, the 2015 titlist in Rotterdam, competed admirably but ultimately ran out of gas as Medvedev cruised across the line. The 28-year-old will next face Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci. If Medvedev can go on to seal the title this week, it will be his first since the 2023 ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. It would also be the first time that the former World No. 1 has won the same event twice, after his previous 20 titles have all come at different tournaments.

Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas put in a near-flawless performance to advance past qualifier Harold Mayot 6-1, 7-5.

Tsitsipas the 2022 finalist, awaits either Matteo Berrettini or home favourite Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.

Earlier, Hubert Hurkacz produced a clinical display to oust Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-2 and advance to the second round in Rotterdam for the fifth consecutive year. The eighth seed won 85 per cent (23/27) of first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and fired seven aces en route to a 77-minute victory.

Hurkacz, who is playing in his first even since dropping outside the Top 20 for the first time since April 2021, will face either Jiri Lehecka or Alexei Popyrin the second round.