Qualified for the second round, Medvedev can breathe easy: "At some point, he decided to play at his best."
Daniil Medvedev was determined to do well this year. Beaten from the outset last year by Seyboth Wild (7-6, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4), this time it was a case of holding his nerve. Facing Dominik Koepfer (65th), he needed more than 3 hours to get out of the trap (6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3).
Finishing his match at around 00:30, the world number 4 didn't seem too dissatisfied with his level of play, insisting above all on the state of grace experienced by his opponent in the third set: "I felt very good on court, I was playing very well. In the third set, I don't know why, he decided to play at his best, to put every ball on the line, to run everywhere, to fight.
And if he'd done that from the very first point of the match, it would have been harder for me, so I'm happy because at least he left me alone for two sets. And then in the fourth set, I said to myself: 'Ok, if he wants to win the match, he won't be able to walk tomorrow'. I'm glad I managed to win."