‘I am feeling 100 per cent,’ says Daniil Medvedev as he keeps hopes of Cincinnati-Toronto double alive

ATP Tour
Daniil Medvedev in action on the ATP Tour

Daniil Medvedev is only three wins away from completing the unique Cincinnati-Toronto Masters double after easing past Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.

The Russian, who beat Reilly Opelka in the Canadian Open final on Sunday, didn’t have to really hit top gear against Dimitrov, winning 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 30 minutes.

The top seed broke twice in each set, although the Bulgarian managed to get one break in the opening set, but one key feature of the match was the long rallies.

“It was tough, especially in the second set,” Medvedev said after the match. “I had four break points before I broke him. I knew I had to continue to push him.

“Grigor is an amazing player, but a little bit worse on the backhand, and I like when people slice, so that was a tactic to try to put pressure on him there. Of course, [I] mixed it up with the forehand sometimes and it seemed to work really well.”

He added: “What makes it tough [on the Cincinnati-Toronto double], it is two weeks in a row against the best players in the world. I am still young, healthy and feeling 100 per cent, so that is why I want to try and do it.”

Medvedev will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-final after the seventh-seeded Spaniard beat Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3).

The player who comes through that match will face either fourth seed Andrey Rublev or Benoit Paire for a place in the final.

Russian Rublev defeated Gael Monfils 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5) while Paire claimed a 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (2-7), 6-1 win over John Isner.

“It was super tough. It was really humid,” Rublev said. “Gael was running super fast and it’s impossible to play short rallies with him. If you try to shoot every ball you will miss most of them and the match will be over in half an hour. So you need to take your time, stay in the rally and wait for the right moment.”

Andrey Rublev Daniil Medvedev Gael Monfils Grigor Dimitrov

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