Medvedev continues great run at Roland Garros, advances to fourth round
Daniil Medvedev was 0-4 at the French Open coming into this year’s tournament, yet he has found a way to win three matches in a row on the clay courts in Paris, and book his spot in the fourth round. Medvedev defeated American Reilly Opelka on Friday in the third round, taking the match 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 38 minutes.
Medvedev seems to be getting used to playing on the clay, even though we all know that it is by far his least favorite surface.
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This was the fourth meeting between Medvedev and Opelka, as Medvedev now leads the head-to-head 3-1 after Friday’s win, and gets revenge from the last time they played, where Medvedev lost in his home country of Russia to Opelka in 2020.
Opelka actually started off the match really strong, breaking Medvedev early to take a 3-1 lead. Medvedev adjusted quickly though, breaking right back and then breaking Opelka’s next service game after that to take four games in a row and lead 5-3. After Opelka held, Medvedev was able to close out the set on his serve and take the early lead.
In the second set, Medvedev continued the momentum, breaking in the first game of the set, and then breaking again right after to run out to a 4-0 lead. Both players would exchange holds of serve the rest of the set as Medvedev took the set 6-2 to grab a commanding lead in the match.
The third set was more of the same, as Medvedev won every single point in the set when he got his first serve in, according to Infosys Match Centre. Medvedev shattered any hope of an Opelka comeback in the match, not giving him a single look at a break point in the set. Once Medvedev broke at 1-1, it was over, as both players held serve the rest of the way. Medvedev took the match in straight sets, taking the final set 6-4 to advance to his first career Roland Garros round of 16.
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Next up for Medvedev in the fourth round will be the 22-seed Cristian Garin, who beat American Marcos Garin in four sets on Friday.