ATP TENNIS: ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
Rotterdam, Netherlands
[5] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs. [104] Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
Medvedev won their only prior meeting in straight sets, but it was not that straightforward a victory. The Canadian pushed him in the first set to a tiebreaker and 7-5 in the second set; thus, Medvedev knew this would be a challenge. Today, the Canadian was a much different player than the one who played against him in China last October; yet, it looked like it would be a repeat after the Russian took the early break, but in tennis terms, it was too early to make any predictions. When a player is playing with as much confidence as Pospisil, his opponent has to be wary.
Pospisil Picks Up Where He Left Off
Pospisil broke back and the rest was history. He protected his serve in the second set, never giving the number one seed any opportunity to get back in the match. With the 6-4, 6-3 victory, the Canadian evened their head to head record and got one of the best victories of his career in a long time. Winning breeds confidence, which breeds even more confidence and that is what we are seeing currently with Pospisil. Now if he stays healthy, I expect to see him back in the top forty.
[21] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs. [22] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
The 1:0 advantage went to the Canadian teenager, who defeated Dimitrov in straight sets in their only previous meeting last year on grass at Queen’s Club. Could he reproduce that effort today? They traded breaks in the first set until the Canadian wrestled control away from Dimitrov to win the first set.
Auger-Aliassime Has Dimitrov’s Number
He out played and outmaneuvered his veteran opponent and perhaps broke his will. Despite giving Dimitrov a slight chance to get back in the second set, Auger-Aliassime did not falter. He tightened up his game at a crucial juncture and secured a second break, which was essentially the match. The Bulgarian never looked prepared to battle, making me wonder if he was ill. In any event, being down a double break was too much for him to overcome and he lost 4-6, 2-6.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: Zimbio.com (Getty Images)
