Daniil Medvedev entered the 2024 Wimbledon Championships as the fifth seed, chasing his second Grand Slam title in his career, while Casper Ruud, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, just wanted to start by besting his second round finishes of 2022 and 2023 in Wimbledon this time around.
Daniil Medvedev has had a topsy-turvy season, so far, getting to the final of the Australian Open and Indian Wells Open, losing to Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz respectively. He lost again to Jannik Sinner in the Miami Open semifinal and hasn’t gone beyond a quarterfinal in the five tournaments he’s played since then. Daniil Medvedev would be hoping to break that duck in Wimbledon.
How far will he advance at Wimbledon this year?
Daniil Medvedev Defeats Tough Opponent
Daniil Medvedev has forced his way into the third round of the Wimbledon Championships after coming from a set down to defeat Alexandre Muller in four sets. The Russian won 74% of his points on his first serve, 14 of them from aces.
Alexandre Muller won the first set tiebreak after racing to three set points on the Russian. Neither player broke the other’s serve, but Daniil Medvedev had to save five break points in the set. The second set went similarly to the first, with Muller pulling up a set point on Medvedev’s serve in the 12th game. With a commanding display at the net, Medvedev eventually saw out the tiebreak to kickstart his comeback.
Daniil Medvedev took an early break of Muller’s serve in the third set, then raced to a 4-1 lead. Muller ended up breaking Medvedev’s serve to bring them back on serve, but with a poorly executed drop shot on serve in the 10th game of the set, he gifted Medvedev the break of his serve and the third set.
The end of the match was cruel for Muller, with a double fault knocking the Frenchman out of Wimbledon. Daniil Medvedev will face either Juncheng Shang or Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round. Here is what Medvedev following his four set victory:
“It was a very tough, physical match. Alex played well and some moments in the match were very tough to stay in touch with him. I was losing by one set and a break. On grass that is never easy, but I managed to stay solid, always stay in the match and try to fight. Definitely happy with the win. I should have played much better, but it’s okay. When you win, there is a next round to try to do better.”
Casper Ruud Unable To Execute Comeback
Casper Ruud still hasn’t been able to feature in the third round of a Wimbledon tournament after losing to Fabio Fognini in Wimbledon’s second round. The Norwegian dropped the first two sets 4-6, 5-7 before rallying to win the third set through a tiebreak. Fognini then came back in the fourth set to defeat the former US Open finalist 6-3 and move into the third round.
Casper Ruud, seeded eighth in the tournament, is the second top-10 seed to crash out of the tournament after Andrey Rublev. It took Fabio Fognini three hours and 17 minutes to defeat the Norwegian.
Fognini had the match in his hands in the third set, leading 5-2, but Casper Ruud sparked an unlikely comeback, winning back-to-back games to force a tiebreak which he won. The Italian almost blew it again in the ninth game of the fourth set, squandering a 40-15 lead to deuce, and needing multiple opportunities to eventually win the match.
Casper Ruud would’ve played against either Roberto Bautista Agut or Lorenzo Sonego in the third round of the Wimbledon Championships if he had defeated Fabio Fognini, but he’d have to wait till next year to try for the third round again.
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