Jannik Sinner has recorded his second victory over Daniil Medvedev this month to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna for the first time in his career.
Sinner, who was on a seven-match losing streak against the Russian before the start of October, battled to a marathon 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-3, win over the former US Open champion in what was a clash of fine margins. Best illustrated by the fact he won 51% of the points played (128/250). Overall Sinner produced 34 aces and saved nine out of 13 break points he faced in what was one of the longest best-of-three finals to take place in 2023.
“It took a lot of mental and physical stuff,” he said during his on-court interview.
“I think we served very well in the first set. I managed somehow to get back when he was a break up. I felt that he was serving very good. In the second set, he was trying to get into the rally a little bit more. Then I tried to step up a little bit (in the third set).’
“To finish the match was a really mental thing but I’m happy about how I managed it today.”
The cat-and-mouse chase began in the fourth game after a blistering forehand return from Medvedev rewarded him with a break point. He went on to seal a 3-1 lead by hitting a ball high that forced Sinner to make an unforced error in the following point. However, his advantage was short-lived with the Italian automatically responding by breaking back in love in the following game. Then in the closing stages of the opening set, Medvedev had a set point at 6-5 but failed to convert it.
Sinner’s resilience eventually paid off during a heavy-hitting 16-point tiebreaker where he had to fight his way back from a 1-4 deficit after making a trio of unforced errors. He then saw a set point of his own come and go whilst leading 6-5 before later denying Medvedev his second chase to take the opener with an ace. In the end, he sealed the tiebreaker with the help of a forehand shot from the Russian crashing into the net.
Before this week, Sinner had a 9-1 winning record in tour finals after clinching the opening set. Although his only defeat was to Medvedev in Rotterdam earlier this year. History looked to be repeating itself with the top seed finding his groove as he claimed four straight games en route to taking the match into a decider.
The rollercoaster continued with a gut-busting 20-minute Medvedev service game featuring 13 deuces that concluded with the world No.3 hitting a forehand wide to grant Sinner an early break for 3-1 in the third set before he dropped serve in the following game. Despite the blow, Sinner managed to break once again which finally gave him enough of a lead to seal victory. After more than three hours of pulsating play from both men in the Austrian capital, he closed the match out with a serve out wide that was returned out by Medvedev.
“This is for sure in the top three, top five (matches of my career),” the new champion declared.
“Playing in finals is always special, especially against Daniil. I have lost to him so many times. The last time (when we played) I won which gave me confidence.’
“Today was different from the last time because I made a lot more serve and volleys (in Beijing). He was waiting more for my play and I had to adapt. I am very happy with how I handled this situation.”
The loss will be a bitter pill for Medvedev to swallow who was bidding to win the same tournament twice for the first time in his career. This weekend was his eighth ATP final on a hard court this year, making it the second time in his career he has reached this milestone. Since 2000, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are the only other players to have achieved this feat in multiple seasons.
“At one moment I thought that I could maybe get you but I didn’t manage to do it,” Medvedev said to Sinner.
“Hopefully, we can play in more finals against each other this year. You’re playing great and finishing the year strong.”
Sinner has now won 56 ATP Tour-level matches this year which is the highest amount ever won by an Italian player within a single season. He has also become the first player from his country to win the Vienna event which was first held in 1974.
