Chilean Cristian Garín starred in the great surprise of the men’s box of the Masters 1,000 of Madrid by defeating Russian Danil Medvedev, second seed, 6-4, 6-7 (2) and 6-1, in the eighth round.
Santiago’s player thus equals his best participation in a Masters 1,000 tournament, following the quarter-finals he played at the Paris in 2019; lost then to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
In Madrid, his next opponent will emerge from the clash between Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, from qualifying, and Italian Matteo Berrettini, the eighth seed.
Garín’s start was decisive: he broke off the Russian’s serve and advanced 2-1. When the marker pointed 4-2 for the Chilean, Medvedev began bleeding from the nose and had to be cared for by the toilets, who soon cut off the bleeding.
Santiago’s player kept that rent and, full of confidence, when it was his turn to pull out to win the set he made the game blank. Medvedev demanded more in the second half. As happened in the previous round against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, he was from least to most and, once involved in the land game he likes so little, he proved a fearsome rival.
By the time the marker pointed 6-6, Medvedev had granted a single breakpoint, which he saved, and Garín, none. In the tiebreaker, the Moscovite raised its aggression one point and was intractable (7-2).
Five break balls cost Garín to break Medvedev’s resistance in game four (3-1), but that scenario gave him an extraordinary boost, without being deconcentrated by the Russian’s continued complaints about his own mistakes and arbitral decisions.
After 4-1, Medevedev seemed in a hurry to finish the crash. Every ball was played and crossed, because he encountered a huge Garin. He wasted his first match ball and still had to stay calm in the face of an unexpected incident: at 5-1 and 40-40 he let go of the net anchor to the track. The game was interrupted for five minutes.
A backhand to the net and a blow to Medvedev’s tape gave Garín a win he deserved by play, by physique and by confidence. The Chilean was the winner this year of the Santiago de Chile tournament and an eighthfinalist in Monte Carlo.
Look at the point of Garín’s victory
Video via Twitter @tenis_chile
