Three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland stunned top seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-7 6-3 in a round of 16 match at the ATP Moselle Open in Metz on Thursday. The 37-year-old Wawrinka will take on Mikael Ymer of Sweden in the quarterfinal on Friday.
Wawrinka showed glimpses of his brilliance in what was a vintage performance. On the other hand, Medveded’s poor run continued and the now the Russian has failed to win a single tournament since reaching the Australian Open final in January.
Three things that stood out in Stan Wawrinka’s win over Daniil Medvedev at the Moselle Open
#1 Wawrinka played some wonderful groundstrokes in the first set:
Wawrinka put Medvedev under some serious pressure by playing powerful groundstrokes from the baseline. Some of the down-the-line backhand winners reminded one of the Wawrinka of yesteryear as Medvedev struggled to deal with his Swiss opponent.
Wawrinka got the the first break of the match in the eighth game of the first set to go 4-3 up and then held his serve to lead 5-3. The Swiss then managed to serve out the first set as Medvedev stared at yet another early exit from a tournament.
#2 Medvedev came back well to win the second set:
Wawrinka went for the kill in the second set by being more aggressive. However, at times he overdid things as he handed Medvedev a break by going for serve-and-volley and then hitting his volley into the net.
However, Wawrinka managed to break back and level the score. Wawrinka kept going to the net frequently and came up with a few wonderful volleys to win points as the second set went into a tie-break. Medvedev managed to hang on to win the tie-break as the Swiss overpressed with his forehand and committed a few unforced errors by hitting the ball long.
#3 Wawrinka used his crosscourt forehand well to win the match:
Wawrinka changed his strategy somewhat in the second set. He played crosscourt forehands with steep angles to keep stretching Medvedev laterally. As a result, the Russian, who is renowned for his quick lateral movement on the court, often failed to reach the ball towards his forehand wing.
Wawinka got a double break to go 3-0 up in the third set, but Medvedev fought back by hitting some nice passes to level the score at 3-3. However, the Swiss then won the next three games to finish the match.
Medvedev hit nine aces in the match, but could win an abysmal 31% of the points on his second serve and was broken four times. In comparison, Wawrinka won 61% of the points on his second serve.
Main Photo from Getty.
