By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday August 15, 2021
Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev deconstructed red-hot Reilly Opelka to earn his fourth career Masters 1000 title.
Photo Source: Getty
Daniil Medvedev is peaking ahead of the US Open once again.
The rising Russian backed up his top seed and sent a message across the bow of the rest of the ATP Tour that he is primed and ready to make a run at this year’s final Grand Slam by defeating Reilly Opelka, 6-4, 6-3 for his fourth Masters 1000 title and his 12th ATP title overall.
It was a brilliant, smothering defensive effort by Medvedev, who is developing a reputation as one of the few players that can regularly defuse the giants of the ATP Tour. Medvedev improves to 4-1 lifetime over Opelka on a day that saw him break the 23-year-old’s serve three times in ten return games.
Opelka had been broken just twice in his previous 71 service games at Toronto, but Medvedev won 37 percent of his first-serve return points and broke him three times on seven opportunities.
“I still don't understand many things about tennis,” Medvedev told reporters when asked how he was able to produce such a good returning performance against one of the game’s most menacing servers. “The semifinal and final, I don't know what happened, but except [for a] few moments, I could kind of read and feel where they were serving and just get a racquet on the ball and get it in court, because I don't know how many aces Reilly served today but probably around six or seven [actually 8], which is for him not a lot. He got a lot at the end.
“I don't know how it works, but I'm really happy that I managed to anticipate and feel, as you say, these two matches really good, because I had a lot of opportunities today and yesterday.”
“He was flawless,” Opelka said. “I had one chance to break early. I don't think that would have changed much because he was in so many of my service games.”
Medvedev becomes the first Russian to win the Masters 1000 title in Canada since Marat Safin in 2000, and he claims his fourth Masters 1000 title overall, tying Alexander Zverev on that list.
Opelka did have a few chances to break, but Medvedev stepped up to answer the bell each time. He saved three from 0-40 down while serving at 1-2 in the opening set, and another at 3-2, 30-40 in the second set, which effectively put the match away.
“It was a little windy and a little bit swirlier out there on the ball, so it was really tough to be powerful and be consistently powerful,” Opelka said. “But even then, even when I hit some big shots, he countered well and it was very tough to disrupt him at all.
“He's very good with his opening-stance backhand, very good on the run, his passing shots are great. All expected, but he really executed well.”
Medvedev will head to next week’s Western and Southern Open with a full bucket of momentum. He improves to 37-9 on the season with three titles.
The Russian, who is the 2019 champion at Cincinnati, will face either Brandon Nakashima or Mackenzie McDonald in the second round after a bye.
Opelka, who competed in his first Masters 1000 final on Sunday, will face Corentin Moutet of France in round one in Cincinnati. He will rise to a career-high ranking of 23 thanks to his run to the final.
“I'm confident,” Opelka said. “Obviously have won matches, I'll have some expectation of myself, but I'm not going to be riding this win for too long, you know. Or not a win, but this week.”