Spoiler:
Tommy Paul ended Daniil Medvedev’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia title defence hopes Tuesday with an all-court masterclass in Rome, where the American secured his first Top 20 win on clay to reach the quarter-finals.
The 26-year-old often moved forward to counter the second seed's deep court positioning while also holding his ground in baseline exchanges to oust Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 13 minutes.
Paul came flying out of the blocks, breaking the World No. 4 in all three of Medvedev’s service games in the opening set. Medvedev regrouped, breaking Paul to gain a 2-0 lead in the second set before the 14th seed responded by winning four consecutive games.
Boasting an 18-7 season record including a title run in Dallas, Paul utilised the whole court to test the fitness level of Medvedev, who battled through a two-hour, 50-minute match against Hamad Medjedovic on Monday. The New Jersey native was dominant from the baseline, striking 19 winners to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on clay.
Medvedev was aiming to successfully defend a title for the first time. The 28-year-old made just 45 per cent of his first serves and failed to find his usual brick-wall consistency, committing 22 unforced errors, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Paul, No. 16 in the PIF ATP Rankings, improved to 1-3 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head with the 20-time tour-level champion. The Madrid doubles partners also faced off in Indian Wells, where Paul won the opening set 6-1 — much like Tuesday in Rome — before Medvedev stormed back to win.
The 26-year-old often moved forward to counter the second seed's deep court positioning while also holding his ground in baseline exchanges to oust Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 13 minutes.
Paul came flying out of the blocks, breaking the World No. 4 in all three of Medvedev’s service games in the opening set. Medvedev regrouped, breaking Paul to gain a 2-0 lead in the second set before the 14th seed responded by winning four consecutive games.
Boasting an 18-7 season record including a title run in Dallas, Paul utilised the whole court to test the fitness level of Medvedev, who battled through a two-hour, 50-minute match against Hamad Medjedovic on Monday. The New Jersey native was dominant from the baseline, striking 19 winners to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on clay.
Medvedev was aiming to successfully defend a title for the first time. The 28-year-old made just 45 per cent of his first serves and failed to find his usual brick-wall consistency, committing 22 unforced errors, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Paul, No. 16 in the PIF ATP Rankings, improved to 1-3 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head with the 20-time tour-level champion. The Madrid doubles partners also faced off in Indian Wells, where Paul won the opening set 6-1 — much like Tuesday in Rome — before Medvedev stormed back to win.