Daniil Medvedev Shakes Off Laslo Djere To Reach Halle Quarter-finals 

Daniil Medvedev hung tough on the Halle grass Wednesday at the Terra Wortmann Open, where the top seed overcame stern resistance from Laslo Djere to notch a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 second-round victory.

Medvedev delivered a high-level performance in a two-hour, 10-minute encounter but was forced into a deciding set on OWL Arena after Djere rallied from 1/4 to claim the second-set tie-break. Just as he had in the opening set, however, Medvedev raced clear with an early break of Djere’s serve in the third to reach his 10th tour-level quarter-final of 2023.

“Grass is so tough for me,” said Medvedev, when asked about how he handled the surface during his win. “You can actually play a perfect match and lose on two tie-breaks, so it’s a little bit strange for me. When I see top players like Roger [Federer], from one side they can seem like aliens but you try to see the best in them, and how they are able on this surface, where it’s sometimes tricky to beat anyone, to have so many titles. Wimbledon, Halle, whatever.

“It’s just amazing and that’s what I try to watch. Happy to win and looking forward to the next matches.”

The 27-year-old Medvedev will take on Roberto Bautista Agut in the last eight after the Spaniard defeated Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 7-6(2). That will be a rematch of the pair’s quarter-final in Halle in 2022, when Medvedev defeated the Spain’s Bautista Agut in straight sets en route to the championship match.

Jan-Lennard Struff earlier defeated Roman Safiullin 6-1, 7-6(4) to make it three German players in the second round in Halle. In the only remaining first-round match, Struff converted four of his seven break points to continue his fine recent form.

The 33-year-old reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final in Madrid in May and held championship point in the final last week in Stuttgart before falling to Frances Tiafoe. Now at a career-high No. 21 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Struff will hope to continue his momentum in a second-round match against Alexander Bublik.