Medvedev comes through with experience

Daniil Medvedev wasn't at his best this evening. Opposed to a very enterprising Dominik Koepfer (48 winners, 38 unforced errors), the Russian sometimes seemed to struggle, cruelly lacking bite in his shots.

After a convincing start to the match, in which the world number 5 had secured the essential points to take the lead in the first and second acts (6-3, 6-4), he began to stammer in his tennis. Lacking power and suffering from the German's clinical efficiency (4 break points converted out of 4), Medvedev found himself embroiled in a perilous 4th set (6-3, 6-4, 5-7).

Breaking quickly, he then lost his lead before regaining it again and finally concluding on his opponent's serve. Far from playing his best tennis (34 winners, 26 unforced errors), the Russian finally managed to come to terms with his feelings of the evening to win the match after more than 3 hours (6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3). It's now time for Medvedev to recuperate, as this very physical match ended at over midnight.

From now on, he'll need to build up his strength as the matches go on, to get back to a level of tennis that's good enough to go far. This challenge will begin in the second round, when he takes on Miomir Kecmanovic, an opponent of a completely different calibre, especially on clay.