Medvedev downs Norrie to end title drought
World number one Daniil Medvedev won his first ATP title of 2022 on Saturday, roaring past defending champion Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-0 in the final of the hardcourt tournament in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Medvedev snapped a five-match losing streak in finals – a stretch that included his agonizing, five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final in February.
He also came up short this year in 's-Hertogenbosch and Halle. He didn't get a chance at Wimbledon, where Russian and Belarussian players were banned because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
His first trophy since he won the US Open last year – denying Novak Djokovic a calendar Grand Slam – comes just as Medvedev launches the final build up to his title defense in the final Grand Slam of 2022.
Next he'll defend his Canadian Open title before tackling the Cincinnati Masters.
Defending Los Cabos champion Norrie did what he could in the opening set, but Medvedev gained a decisive break to lead 6-5 and once he'd served out the opening set there was simply no stopping him.
"It was not easy," Medvedev said in his on-court interview.
"Cam is an amazing player, so it was really intense," he added. "When you play against him, you know that you have to fight for every point."
Medvedev had two set points on his serve at 5-4, but was broken.
In the next game he scraped his hand on the court reaching for a shot on the opening point and needed treatment because of the blood.
"I didn't play bad in that game at 5-4," Medvedev said. "So I knew I just had to stay there. Actually bleeding helped me I think a little bit so I could hold my nerve a little bit more."
Medvedev was playing his first tournament since a quarter-final exit at Mallorca in June.
With each match he looked more assured, and he ended the week without dropping a set against a modest array of opponents starting with 224th-ranked Australian Rinky Hijikata followed by 98th-ranked Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis and 38th-ranked Serb Miomir Kecmanovic.
Norrie was a tougher proposition. Ranked 12th, he has taken his tally of ATP titles to four since winning his first at Los Cabos last year.
He had reached his 10th final since the start of 2021 by beating second-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals.
Once Medvedev found his groove, however, Norrie had no answer.
"Every match was very good, but the final is always special," Medvedev said. "In the final, you play the best player of this week, so it's always a high-level match and I'm really happy that I managed to show some good level, some good shots in such an important match."
Medvedev stamped himself the early US Open favorite, especially given the likely absence of Djokovic because of his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and the uncertainty surrounding injured Nadal.
The Spaniard, ranked third in the world, pulled out of the Montreal Masters this week as he recovers from an abdominal tear suffered at Wimbledon.
-
I used the Pixel 9 Pro XL in the shower — does the screen work when wet as claimed?Going From 20 to 40: A Graphics Card Upgrade TaleNASA spacecraft has highAmazon Fire 65广州市白云区供销联社携手6所院校15支队伍,加力提速推进“百千万工程”What Ever Happened to Netscape?S. Korea, Britain hold joint highCould humans have babies in space safely? Here's what we know.评论丨农事运动会:一场农民的盛会、新农人风采展现的盛会、城乡双向奔赴的盛会How Many Ballots Do You Have To Count To Know Whether An Election Was Rigged?
- ·Apple finally sends out payments for MacBook's butterfly keyboard settlement
- ·North Korea fires ballistic missiles as US aircraft carrier prepares for drills with South Korea
- ·11 Signs That Capture Pure Americana
- ·Cyrix: Gone But Not Forgotten
- ·N. Korea test
- ·来湛江,到和美乡村过大年
- ·春节假期 我市接待游客85.24万人次
- ·What is Google's new unknown tracker alert?
- ·A Barbie flip phone is here from HMD
- ·N. Korea warns US strategic assets will be '1st targets of destruction'
- ·5 Affordable Last
- ·Japan preparing to bring back some 20 S. Koreans from Israel, along with its own nationals: reports
- ·First officially approved Gen IV nuclear reactor in the US breaks ground
- ·NASA spacecraft has high
- ·Everything Samsung announced at its Galaxy Unpacked event
- ·How to Activate God Mode in Windows 10 and Windows 11
- ·科创筑梦树立远大志向 蓄势赋能培养科技人才
- ·Atomic Pin Up Girls
- ·Everything Samsung announced at its Galaxy Unpacked event
- ·Kansas abortion vote: The state is rigging the election on the right.
- ·Where to pre
- ·Climate change, voting rights, and abortion at the Supreme Court: just the beginning.
- ·'All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt' review: Raven Jackson's feature
- ·Activitiy at N. Korea's Punggye
- ·Republicans on abortion
- ·'Grand Theft Auto 6' trailer reveal set for December
- ·Google Search tries new tactics for limiting explicit deepfakes
- ·Yamal makes history for Spain
- ·Daters want to leave body count stigma in 2023, eharmony says
- ·春节假期 我市接待游客85.24万人次
- ·两个改造提升项目进入收尾阶段
- ·Shehzad surges to top at CNS Open Golf Championship
- ·How to Keep Using Internet Explorer in Microsoft Edge with IE Mode
- ·Atomic Pin Up Girls
- ·NASA's new plan keeps Starliner astronauts in space until 2025
- ·Black Friday Xbox deals 2023: Save on 'Assassin's Creed' franchise, more