Medvedev cruises into quarter-finals to proceed new romance with clay

Second-placed Daniil Medvedev flourished further on Sunday when the Russian made it into the quarter-finals of the French Open with a sovereign 6: 2, 6: 1 7: 5 against the 22-seeded Chilean Cristian Garin.

Medvedev, who reached two Grand Slam finals on hard courts but had never won a match in four previous appearances on red clay at Roland Garros, came into the duel against Garin after losing in his previous meeting on clay at the Madrid Masters would have.

Garin didn’t put up much resistance, however, when the stocky Russian littered Suzanne Lenglen’s sunlit court with winners, particularly with his laser-precise backhand, breaking his opponent’s serve twice in each of the first two sets.

Garin, whose five singles titles were all won on clay, needed medical attention before the third set with problems with his right arm and neck and returned to the field as an improved player, breaking Medvedev for the first time in the game.

It was Medvedev’s turn to call the coach on the court to check for an arm problem while he was 2-0 down and he soon found his reach back to win three games in a row and level the third set 3-3 .

The Russian then got another hiatus in the eleventh game and sealed the match with a backhand winner across the board – his 46th of the game – to create a delicious clash against Greek fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas who defeated twelfth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta Spain 6-3 6-2 7-5.

When asked if this year’s tournament was the beginning of his love story with Roland Garros, Medvedev said: “Hopefully. I can never know the future, but I hope so.”

“I hope to come here for many years in a row, get great results, maybe one day win …

“It’s definitely a better feeling than losing the first round, going home on Tuesday, as I think I lost two or three times here on Sunday. It’s not a good feeling.”

Medvedev has lost a single set in his four games so far in Paris and was just as comfortable on clay as on hard courts.

He could also climb to the top of the world rankings if he reached the final in Paris and world number one Novak Djokovic did not.

“I’ve learned that Roland Garros has to play like hard courts because it jumps fast and deep,” added the Russian. “I don’t know if that was the case before and I was just unlucky with the draw. I also like the balls.”

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