By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Dusan Lajovic toppled top-seeded Daniil Medvedev 7-6(4), 6-4 denying the Russian's shot to reach world No. 2 in Rotterdam.
Photo credit: Jan Kok/Getty
Festering frustration finally erupted in Daniil Medvedev who wound up and spiked his Tecnifibre racquet to the Rotterdam hard court.
Medvedev left a mangled mess of the white stick and though he tried to pick up the pieces of his game, Dusan Lajovic had all the answers.
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Lajovic fired 15 winners toppling the top-seeded Medvedev 7-6(4), 6-4 to advance to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament round of 16 vs. Borna Coric.
It was Lajovic's fifth career Top 10 win and just the second loss in the last 22 matches for Medvedev.
“I think I was very focused the whole match and not influenced by his good serves and shots,” said Lajovic afterward. “I knew if I stayed in the match, I’d get my opportunities and change the rhythm.”
Serbians served as roadblocks to Medvedev realizing major milestones in recent weeks. Lajovic's victory denied Medvedev's quest to rise to the world No. 2 ranking weeks after world No. 1 Novak Djokovic swept the 25-year-old Russian in the Australian Open final stopping his quest for a maiden major.
Medvedev, who carried a 20-match win streak into the AO final, could have seized the world No. 2 ranking by reaching the Rotterdam final.
Instead, 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retain the world No. 2 ranking when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
A focused Lajovic battled back from an early break down to break back in the sixth game.
The 6'6" Medvedev slammed 12 aces, but committed eight double faults, including double faulting away the opening set in the tie breaker. World No. 27 Lajovic exploited another double fault to break for a 5-4 second-set lead.
Lajovic won 12 of the final 14 points serving out his first Top 10 win since he beat then world No. 5 Dominic Thiem en route to the 2019 Monte-Carlo final.
Alexander Bublik broke serve four times dispatching third-seeded Alexander Zverev 7-5, 6-3. The red-hot Bublik, who has already played two ATP finals this season, including losing to Alexei Popyrin in the Singapore final on Sunday, scored his biggest career win.
“Beating Sascha is great,” said Bublik afterward. “There were ups and downs for both of us throughout the match, I got a bit lucky and I was perhaps a little more consistent. I’m just enjoying playing matches right now.”
It was Bublik's third straight Top 10 win, including a victory over Matteo Berrettini in Antalya earlier this season. Bublike will face American Tommy Paul, a 6-4, 7-6(7) victor over Lorenzo Sonego, for a quarterfinal spot.
Empowered by capturing his fifth career title in Montpellier on Sunday, David Goffin rolled through eight straight games dismissing Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-0. The sixth-seeded Goffin posted his fifth straight win setting up a round of 16 meeting vs. French veteran Jeremy Chardy.