tennis
World number one Medvedev easily in the round of 16
Daniil Medvedev had no trouble winning his opening match in Halle. Photo: Friso Gentsch/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
World number one Daniil Medvedev easily reached the round of 16 at the lawn tournament in Halle, Westphalia.
World number one Daniil Medvedev easily reached the round of 16 at the lawn tournament in Halle, Westphalia.
The Russian tennis pro defeated Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-2. The 26-year-old only needed 64 minutes for his success. In the fight for the quarter-finals, Medvedev will now meet Ilja Ivashka from Belarus on Thursday, who had won against local hero Jan-Lennard Struff at the start. Medvedev replaced Serbian Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings earlier in the week.
“It was a great match. David is a difficult opponent. It was good that I played on grass last week,” said Medvedev, who had reached the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch the previous week. “You want to keep getting points and stay number one for as long as possible,” said the Russian.
On the other hand, defending champion Ugo Humbert was eliminated. The Frenchman, who surprisingly won the title in Halle in 2021, had to admit defeat to Hubert Hurkacz from Poland 6: 7 (5: 7), 3: 6 in the round of 16. Like Hurkacz, Pablo Carreno Busta is in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard won against the American Sebastian Korda 6:4, 0:6, 6:3.