Daniil Medvedev has ended Janiik Sinner’s seven-match winning streak to win the Rotterdam Open for the first time in his career.
The former US Open champion clawed his way back from a set down to prevail 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, over his opponent who knocked Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the tournament earlier in the week. Medvedev has extended his dominant head-to-head record against Sinner to 5-0. In their latest encounter, the world No.11 produced 18 winners and converted five out of 12 break point opportunities.
“Yesterday, my wife told me that when I was giving the speech on court she put my daughter, who’s 4 months old, in front of the TV and she started smiling and laughing… I hope she is doing this again today,” Medvedev said during the trophy ceremony.
“I came here (to Rotterdam) first in 2016 and I straight away loved it. I have only missed it once since then which was last year when I played the Australian Open final. I love coming back here. The last two times I played were terrible and I’m happy to make it better this year.” He later added.
Sunday’s clash at the Ahoy Arena was a roller-coaster showdown for Medvedev who endured a frustrating start. After falling behind 1-4, he battled back to draw level before getting broken again when serving to stay in the set at 5-6.
Despite the blip, Medvedev turned around his fortunes in the second set by breaking the Sinner serve twice. The Italian noticeably got more fatigue as the final continued in what was a physically demanding match. More than 60 points played were rallies of nine or more shots. Prior to Rotterdam, Sinner also played at the Open Sud de France last week where he won his seventh Tour trophy.
Taking the final into a decider, Medvedev continued to draw blood from his error-stricken opponent by breaking in the third game for a 2-1 lead. Four games later he broke once again after a Sinner forehand error moved him to 5-2. Serving for the title, the Russian sealed victory on his second championship point with a serve out wide which Sinner returned out.
“Daniil, congrats to you and your team – very good job. It’s your first title of this season and I think you’re going to win many more this year. I wish you all the best,” runner-up Sinner commented.
“It has been two positive weeks for me. I have played many matches and I’m proud. I tried my best today.”
The triumph will move Medvedev up the rankings into eighth position on Monday after he spent three weeks outside the top 10 for the first time since 2019. He has now won 16 Tour titles in his career with 15 of those being on a hardcourt.
