By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday August 18, 2019
Russia's Daniil Medvedev captured his first Masters 1000 title and will make his Top 5 debut on Monday after defeating David Goffin in the final.
Photo Source: Rob Carr/Getty
Daniil Medvedev has been a rising force in the men’s game for quite some time, but this week at the Western and Southern Open, the 23-year-old Russian took it next-level.
A day after defeating World No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in a dramatic semi-final, Medvedev eased past David Goffin 7-6(3) 6-4 to claim his first Masters 1000 title and assure himself of a Top 5 debut when tomorrow’s rankings are released tomorrow.
Medvedev, playing in his third consecutive final after earning runner-up finishes at the Citi Open and the Rogers Cup, pushed through a hotly contested opening set by pulling away in the tiebreaker.
In similar fashion to Saturday's upset over Djokovic, Medvedev played the biggest points the best on Sunday. He played brilliantly from 2-2 in the opening-set tiebreaker, winning four straight points to earn three set points, and he converted his second of them to take the opener.
In the second set the Russian was on fire from the service stripe. He won his first 16 points on serve, and then when the crafty Goffin created two break points with Medvedev serving for the title, the Russian delivered clutch tennis of the highest order.
He ripped a second-serve service winner and then hammered three consecutive aces to clinch the victory.
Afterwards Medvedev told reporters that he was starting to cramp and he was believing that it was now or never as he went to try and save those break points.
"In Russia we say "who doesn't risk, doesn't drink Champagne," he said.
Medvedev and Goffin have now met three times in 2019, with Medvedev winning in straights sets against Goffin at the Australian Open and then losing to the Belgian in five at Wimbledon.
Goffin, who was bidding to become the first Belgian to ever win a Masters 1000 title, can still take solace in the fact that he reached his first Masters 1000 final—after falling short in his first four Masters 1000 semi-finals, he took down Richard Gasquet in Saturday’s semi-final.
Medvedev becomes youngest player to win the Cincinnati title since Andy Murray in 2008, and he will become the first Russian in the Top 5 since Nikolay Davydenko in June of 2010.
"It's been the best weeks in my life," Medvedev said. "I mean, as I say, mentality was the best in my life. My serve was the best in my life. My tennis was really consistent. I didn't have one bad match. I'm just extremely happy. And hopefully I can continue this way well through all my career but hopefully at least next few weeks."
The Russian's victory marks a continuation of a trend at the Masters 1000 level in ATP tennis. He is the ninth first-time Masters 1000 winner in the last 21 such events. Only nine first-time winners had come through in the previous 93.
Whether it is a surefire indication of a coming changing of the guard in tennis is difficult to say. But if it is, Medvedev has certainly positioned himself as one of the players with the potential to make an immediate impact.