Daniil Medvedev entered the 2024 edition of the Rome Open as the defending champion after winning the 2023 edition in a closely contested final with Holger Rune.
Seeded 2nd behind the world number 1 and top seed, Novak Djokovic, Medvedev received a bye to the Rome Open second round where he faced Jack Draper.
The contest between the Russian and the Brit was closely matched, but the 2nd seed triumphed in two sets, winning 7-5, 6-4. This qualified him to take on Hamad Medjedovic in the third round of the Rome Open.
Medjedovic proved to be a more formidable opponent than Draper for Medvedev. The match with the Serbian was a gripping encounter that lasted three sets and almost three hours, ending 7-6, 2-6, 7-5 in the Russian’s favor.
Medvedev then qualified for the fourth round to take on Tommy Paul.
Medvedev Losses In Rome Open 4th Round
An injury had eliminated Daniil Medvedev from the Madrid Open a few days prior to entering the Rome Open. Other high-profile players like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Rome Open due to injuries.
Tommy Paul started his fourth-round Rome Open encounter with Daniil Medvedev in the worst possible fashion. A forehand shot went wide after crashing into the top of the net to give Medvedev an early break in the first game of the first set.
The American bounced back immediately after an excellent game of good returns of serves, breaking Medvedev’s serve with a forehand down the line that forced Medvedev to slice his forehand into the net.
He then extended the lead with a double break of Medvedev’s serve in the fourth game of the set to lead 3-1. That apparently didn’t end the American’s dominance in the set. After a near-perfect performance at the net in the sixth game, Medvedev succumbed to a double fault to hand Paul a triple break. Tommy Paul then served out the seventh game 40-0 to win the first set 6-1.
Although Medvedev started the second set like he did the first set with a break of Paul’s serve, a long backhand shot from Medvedev in the third game gifted Paul the break back.
Tommy Paul turned up the screws in the fifth game, breaking Medvedev’s serve again with a backhand shot across the court to the left far sideline, beyond Medvedev’s reach.
He maintained his impressive performance till he served out the set in the tenth game to win 6-4, and knock the defending champion out.
Tommy Paul’s Imperial Tournament So Far
Tommy Paul pulled out one of the best performances of his career against the world number 4, Daniil Medvedev, in the fourth round of the Rome Open.
The American has been in imperial form since the competition began. After being seeded 14th, Tommy Paul received a bye into the second round, where he was paired with Russian Aslan Karatsev. The American breezed through the Russian 6-4, 6-2.
Next, Tommy Paul took on Dominik Koepfer in the third round. He continued his Roman dominance with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. This booked a fourth round contest with the world’s number 4, defending champion, and the highest seeded player left in the competition, Daniil Medvedev.
The American was in impressive fashion once again, defeating Medvedev 6-1, 6-4. He saved three break points while converting five. He dominated Medvedev at the net, winning 16 points at the net, 12 more than Medvedev managed, with double the winners the Russian managed.
Other Clashes In The 2024 Rome Open
Alexander Zverev also continued his march for his second Rome Open title when he flashed with Nuno Borges. The German kept up his impressive performance in the competition with a next to flawless 6-2, 7-5 performance against the Portuguese.
Stefanos Tsitsipas also defeated Alex de Minaur 6-1, 6-2, in a game where unforced errors let the Australian down. Hubert Hurkacz also came from a set down to defeat the giant killer, Sebastian Baez, who had knocked out last year’s Rome Open finalist in the third round.
In a game that could turn out to be a classic, Grigor Dimitrov lost to Taylor Fritz 2-6, 7-6, 1-6. The second set ended with a tie-break that contained a total of 24 breathtaking points after Dimitrov had produced nine set points earlier.
About the Author
Ebenezer has been an avid writer for over a decade and a half. Within that period, he has garnered experience in various fields such as editing, graphics design, transcribing, sales, data analysis, and football management.
Check us out on X @TotalApexEandG and @TotalApexSports, and our other sites: Total Apex Entertainment, Total Apex Sports, Total Apex Gaming, Total Apex Sports Bets, and Total Apex Fantasy Sports. For more articles by Ebenezer Ugorji, click here and here!
