For the First Time Daniil Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev on Tuesday, winning 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), and 7-5. The “crazy” victory sent Medvedev into the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
Medvedev won the ATP for the 17th time in a row. However, for a while, it appeared as though his blistering form, which helped him win titles in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai, would not be sufficient for the WTA.
The world number six, irritated as ever by the sluggish courts at Indian Wells, rolled his right ankle in the sixth game of the second set. He cried out for help and lay on the court for a few minutes before stumbling to his chair.
Zverev, who suffered three torn ankle ligaments last year at the French Open, watched in concern, but Medvedev continued the match and won it after the injury was examined and taped by the medical staff.
“I decided to try it because it was one of the first times in my life that the physio had taped my ankle,” Medvedev stated. Surprisingly, running was much simpler than walking. Therefore, I was limping while walking, but running fine afterward.”
In the second set, Medvedev would hold on to eight of the ten break points he faced before losing.
He got a 4-1 lead in the sudden death round, exciting the group with protective above crush and lastly finishing it off with a freshly calculated forehand victor.
He broke first in the third game and served flawlessly until he lost a match point when he was broken in the 10th game. However, Zverev was unable to build on that and held his head in disbelief as he double-failed on a breakpoint in the subsequent game. After three hours and 17 minutes, Medvedev won the first set by holding at love.
Norrie plays in the quarterfinals:
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 28, of Spain, defeated Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-4.
In the third round, Garin defeated world number four Casper Ruud.
The drama on Stadium Court kicked off a packed day that included all of the men’s and women’s rounds of 16 matches.
The men’s top seed, US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, took on 21-year-old Briton Jack Draper, who defeated childhood hero Andy Murray in the third round. Alcaraz is aiming for a third Masters 1000 title, which would bring him back to the top spot in the world.
Iga Swiatek, the world’s number one female tennis player, took on Emma Raducanu, the winner of the 2021 US Open, in an attempt to become just the second woman since
British champion Cameron Norrie defeated Russian seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 in the first match.
Coco Gauff, an American seed, defeated Rebecca Peterson, a Swedish qualifier, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Maria Sakkari, a seventh-seeded player who finished second to Swiatek last year, defeated Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.