Last year’s ATP Finals champion Danil Medvedev claimed the 10th ATP Tour of his career with a 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 win over Pierre Hugues Herbert after 2 hours and 11 minutes at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
Medvedev hit 13 aces and saved four of the five break points he faced in a highly entertaining match, which presented the contrast of styles between Herbert’s attacking game and Medvedev’s baseline precision.
Medvedev, who finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in this year’s Australian Open, will overtake Rafael Nadal to move into the top 2 of the ATP Ranking. He will be only the fifth world number 2 since 25th July 2005 joining Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Medvedev has claimed the 10th ATP Tour title. He won six of these trophies on hard court. The Russian player became the first male player to beat the top 3 players Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem in ATP Finals history. He ended the 2020 season on a 10-match winning streak and started 2021 on a 10-match streak before finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final.
Medvedev has extended his win-loss record in his 16 ATP matches to 14-2 and now leads to 2-1 in his three head-to-head matches against Herbert. He won all his four matches to lead the Russian team to the ATP Cup in Melbourne.
Medvedev earned his first break in the fifth game of the opening set to take a 3-2 lead after Herbert made a double fault and pushed a volley beyond the baseline.
Herbert broke straight back in the sixth game with a drop-shot to draw level to 3-3. Medvedev converted his third third consecutive break point in the seventh game, as Herbert hit a volley into the net, and held on his final two service games and converted his second set point with a backhand winner down the line after 37 minutes.
Herbert earned his second break point in the fourth game of the second set, but Medvedev saved it. The Frenchman hit a mid-court forehand on break point, but he hit his forehand into the net. Medvedev held serve to draw level to 3-3. The Russian player held at 15 sending the second set to the tie-break.
Herbert won five consecutive points from 2-4 down to clinch the tie-break 7-4 forcing the match to the the third set. The home player hit a shot down the line earning two set points at 6-4 and forced the match to the third set after 59 minutes, as Medvedev hit a backhand into the net.
The third set went on serve until the 10th game. Medvedev hit his 13th ace holding serve for 5-4. Herbert netted a volley to face 15-30. He earned two championships point with a low return and got his only break of the third set to claim his first Marseille title.
Herbert beat three seeded players en route to the final: Kei Nishikori, defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas and his compatriot Ugo Humbert. “I am really happy about the number 10 title. It gets me to two digits, something wihich I dreamt of when I was a kid. I think it is already a great number but I am going to try to work more and get some more. I really like to play on hard courts. I feel like that is where my game suits me the best. I feel like I know the solutions I have to find during the match and that is what I did today”, said Medvedev.