February 26, 2025
Top seed Daniil Medvedev ensured he did not fall at the first hurdle on a day of upsets on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The 29-year-old earned a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6(4) win over Jan-Lennard Struff to advance to the second round at the ATP 500. The 2023 Dubai champion, Medvedev came up clutch behind his serve, saving all four break points he faced, en route to improving to 8-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the German.
“The results don’t matter in the big picture,” said Medvedev when asked of the first-round exits of second seed Alex de Minaur and 2022 Dubai champion Andrey Rublev earlier in the day. “You just need to play well and win your matches. I like tennis, I like to watch the matches, but [there was] no stress before coming on the court.”
“I think Jan’s biggest weapon is the serve, and somehow I managed to read,” said Medvedev. “It just happens. Even with me, I’m serving quite well and there are some players who I cannot make an ace against. I’m happy with my level, because he is still a strong opponent, and I’m happy to be in the second round.
“The flu in Doha was not the best ending to the tournament, but I hope to try and get what I have been building since the start of the season here in Dubai or later. It was a good start.”
In the second round, Medvedev will face another big server in France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings is this week chasing his first title since he won the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome in 2023.
In other action at the ATP 500, Matteo Berrettini marked his return to Dubai with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Gael Monfils in 83 minutes. The Italian reignited some of his best tennis last week in Doha, where he defeated Novak Djokovic en route to the quarter-finals, and he does not appear to have let that momentum slip.
Berrettini, who this week returned to the Top 30 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since June 2023, will next face qualifier Christopher O’Connell. The Australian advanced past Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian was forced to retire after dropping the first set 6-0.
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