Daniil Medvedev goes out in second round of Libema Open
By Lee Vowell
Daniil Medvedev is likely happy that clay court season is over as he often struggles on the surface, but he can’t be happy with his result at the Libema Open. In the second round of the tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Medvedev was outplayed by 34-year-old Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. The two-hour match ended 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Mannarino is no slouch, though. He might never be one of the top names on the ATP circuit and is probably closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but he is having a nice year for himself in 2023. After defeating Medvedev, Mannarino will be playing in his fourth tour-level quarterfinal. He might not be winning many tournaments, but he is likely doing better than you or I could do.
Manarino, however, did in fact win the Libemo Open in 2019 so it’s not like he wouldn’t have confidence in himself. He also seems to give Medvedev fits. Mannarino leads the head-to-head between the two 4-2 and Mannarino has won two of the three matches the two have played in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Daniil Medvedev ousted by Adrian Mannarino at the Libema Open
Mannarino played the angles superbly on Thursday en route to the victory keeping Medvedev moving and never finding a rhythm. It also helped that Mannarino kept the ball low on returns so Medvedev spent a lot of the afternoon having to pick the ball off the grass.
Medvedev has won five tournaments this year but four of those came in early April before. He did, it should be noted, win a clay court tournament which seemed likely a minor miracle for the player, but losing early in the Libema Open doesn’t seem to portend great things for Wimbledon in a couple of weeks.
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Medvedev is capable of doing great things – he defeated Novak Djokovic in the US Open finals in straight sets in 2021, of course – but he also seems to be less threatening in big tournaments now. He also isn’t the Next Great Thing; Carlos Alcaraz holds the unofficial title now. Still, if nothing else, Medvedev can rest and practice for Wimbledon.