Vienna (Austria), Oct 28 Daniil Medvedev's defiant defence shut down the high-powered challenge of Jannik Sinner on Friday at the Vienna Open, where the 26-year-old secured a clinical 6-4, 6-2 quarter-final triumph, here.
Medvedev's persistence proved decisive in an engrossing 91-minute encounter in the Austrian capital. Sinner threw a barrage of heavy groundstrokes at his opponent but was unable to regularly hit through the top seed.
The world No.4 did not face a break point in the match and converted three of six break points of his own as he improved his ATP head-to-head series record against the Italian to 4-0.
"Jannik is a top player, and he can pose problems to anybody basically. In the last two Grand Slams, he played five sets with the [eventual] winner, so Jannik is a top player and I'm really happy today with my performance," said Medvedev after the match.
"I served amazingly well, I almost didn't make any unforced errors, I was solid behind the baseline. Everything was working well today and I'm really happy about it," he added.
The only player in the singles draw yet to drop serve this week in Vienna, Medvedev will next meet Grigor Dimitrov as he chases his second tour-level title of the season. The Bulgarian earlier held off Marcos Giron for a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 quarter-final victory.
Medvedev leads Dimitrov 3-2 in the pair's ATP head-to-head series, but the Bulgarian won the last meeting between the two in Indian Wells in 2021.
"Grigor is the same [as Sinner], he is a top player, he can beat anybody," said Medvedev.
"He was a Top Three player, making semis of Slams. Maybe more up and down this year, but when he is up he is amazing, so I just have to play my best tennis from my side and that's how I can have the chance to win," he added.
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