Daniil Medvedev ended his 882-day wait for an ATP title at the Almaty Open on Sunday with a three-set victory over France’s Corentin Moutet.
The former world No.1 and US Open champion edged out his rival 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, to claim his first trophy of any kind since 2023, when he won the Italian Open. Medvedev joins Novak Djokovic in being the only active players to have won 19 or more ATP events on a harcourt. Overall, the Russian has 21 titles to his name, which have all been won in different cities.
In his latest match against Moutet, Medvedev produced 37 winners with 20 of those coming from his forehand side. He also won 69% of his first service points.
“It is great. I was not super happy with how I played in some moments of the match, but to win feels amazing. In the most important points I played good,” atptour.com quoted Medvedev as saying afterwards. “The last game was incredible and I am happy to win the title. It continues my funny story of 21 titles in 21 different cities.”
The victory in Kazakhstan ended Medvedev’s run of six consecutive defeats in Tournament finals. Three of those losses were to Jannik Sinner, as well as Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Bublik.
Speaking on court during the trophy ceremony, Medvedev paid tribute to his family and dedicated the title to his youngest daughter.
“I want to thank my family. It’s the first time that I won a tournament with my two daughters and my wife together so to get a title it’s really nice,” he said.
“This title is in honor of my second daughter, Victoria, because the first title I got when my first daughter Alisa was born was for her, so this one’s for Victoria.”
Among active players, Medvedev has the same number of titles as Jannik Sinner (21). Only Alexander Zverev (24), Alcaraz (24) and Djokovic (100) have won more.
Ruud shines in Sweden
Elsewhere, at the Stockholm Open, Casper Ruud won his first indoor title on the ATP Tour by sweeping aside Ugo Humbert in straight sets.
Ruud, who was seeded second in the tournament, dropped just five games during his dominant 6-2, 6-3 win, which was achieved in just over an hour. The Norwegian was particularly impressive on serve, winning 92% of points behind his first serve and 93% on his second.
“I would like to congratulate Ugo for his week and sorry about today. I think I played the best match of the year against you, so I am sorry. I am really happy but sorry Ugo,” the AFP news agency quoted Ruud as saying.
“I know that against you, if I don’t play well, you will destroy me. So I knew I had to wake up and play well.
“All the legends have played here in the past. (Roger) Federer, (Rafael) Nadal, (Bjorn) Borg, (John) McEnroe, you name it. So it is an honour to get a title here.”
The 26-year-old has won 14 ATP titles during his career, with Stockholm only being the second he has won on a hardcourt. In the live rankings, Ruud has moved up one position to 11th place.
