Daniil Medvedev may be deep in uncharted waters, but there is no sign of the world No 2 going under just yet. The Russian continues to make a mockery of his own dismal record at the French Open, where he had never won a round before this week, with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over the towering American Reilly Opelka.
Six months ago, Medvedev wryly suggested that it might be 2050 before he won a match in the French capital. Now he finds himself in the fourth round, safely sequestered in the opposite side of the draw to Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, and confidently bestriding the terre battue as if to the manner born.
Medvedev’s improvement has not gone unnoticed by the locals, who perhaps sense something of a Francophile in the man from Moscow. The second seed lives in Monte Carlo, speaks fluent French and has an easy charm that drew warm applause from the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier as he spoke with Fabrice Santoro after the match. Evidently more at home at Roland Garros than he has been in the past, Medvedev exclaimed: “I didn’t know we were in Moscow!”
Opelka showcased his clay-court credentials by reaching the semi-finals of the Rome Masters a fortnight ago, and while the 35th-ranked American attempted to brush off that career landmark as “just a fluke”, he clearly enjoys the surface. The tallest player on the ATP Tour at 6ft 11in, his formidable serve troubles opponents on clay in a manner reminiscent of his compatriot John Isner.
Medvedev was alive to the danger, however, returning with aplomb as he recovered an early break to capitalise on a slew of mistakes from his opponent. Broken twice in the opening two sets and once at the beginning of the third, Opelka racked up 36 unforced errors as Medvedev set up a last-16 meeting with Cristian Garin. The Chilean, seeded 22nd, came through 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 against Marcos Giron of the United States.
In the night session, Stefanos Tsitsipas showed his mettle with a hard-fought victory over Isner. The American, seeded 31st, played near flawless tennis to take the opening set against the world No 5, dropping just five points on serve to reach 6-5 before breaking to love.
Isner, who backed up his formidable delivery with some dexterous net play, survived three break points in the fourth game of the second set before carving out an opportunity of his own against the Tsitsipas serve at 3-3. With the match on a knife edge – and the Greek berating himself loudly in his native tongue – Tsitsipas weathered the storm before some inspired returning in the next game set him on course for a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 victory.
“John is a big guy who hits amazing strokes,” said Tsitsipas, who will play Pablo Carreno Busta next after the Spaniard won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 against Steve Johnson. “I can learn a lot from playing against him, he’s one of the toughest guys to play … the serve is obviously a big obstacle. I didn’t have the best start, but things started going my way in the second set. I started finding my returns, feeling a little bit better from the baseline; I think my head kind of cleaned up and led me to that important victory.”
Alexander Zverev earlier overcame Laslo Djere 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to book a fourth-round appointment with Kei Nishikori. Having dominated the opening set Zverev, the sixth seed, was broken to love early in the second and subsequently fended off three set points before steadying the ship.
“I was down 3-5, 40-0 on his serve and you don’t always come back from that score,” said Zverev, who will feel he has a good opportunity to make the last four for the first time following the early exit of fourth seed Dominic Thiem, his projected quarter-final opponent. “He played a fantastic match, he is playing great on this surface, so I knew I had to play much, much better than the first two rounds, and I did that today.
“The further we go in the tournament the better I start hopefully playing. This is the main goal of my tennis career, to win grand slams, and I feel in the past year and a half I’m going the right way. I hope I can continue.”
One man who won’t be continuing is Fabio Fognini. The Italian, seeded 27th, lost 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 to Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, who will play Alejandro Davidovich Fokina next after the Spaniard put out 15th seed Casper Ruud 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 0-6, 7-5.