A Draining Encounter

Will Medvedev be able to recover after his epic battle against Tien?

Endless rallies, pickle juice, lots of outbursts toward his box, and an epic comeback finish in the third. Medvedev was finally able to get a win over Tien. De Minaur is coming from a more straightforward win over Borges. There was a particular game in the first set in that match at 5-5, where ADM was able to break after a very long game, and it pretty much took all the juice out of Nuno, leading to a dominant second set.

So, is Medvedev doomed after playing that grueling match and now having to face someone who is a master at extending points? Well, let's start with the positives... it was cramp and at least many of his matches have been short in the Asian swing so far. He also has one day free to recover. In a way, I think Tien bothers Medvedev more than ADM does... I find that he struggles quite much with his lefty serve, and Tien is making Medvedev run a lot due to the way he is moving the ball around the court. ADM is a bit different since he is not really moving the ball the same way, and instead, he is the one who does a lot of the running. Medvedev started quite dominant in their H2H, but it feels like it's starting to even out a bit more now, with ADM having won a few times lately. I know that this is a potential huge trap spot for ADM, but I've been impressed with him since the Laver Cup. He says he got helped with his serve a bit to increase his first serve % (which was a huge issue before at 4X%), and even Sinner mentioned Alex's improved serve after their match. And yes, that match gives me some confidence as well, that he at least was able to compete harder with Sinner! Playing late on a slow court feels like a tough task for Medvedev in this matchup right now... he will need to take some initiative since ADM should have the fitness edge here. And he has been better at attacking, forcing offensive shots on the +1 or shortly after. He was able to grind out the win against Tien in the third despite looking absolutely done... but something to notice is that Tien was also struggling at that point (physically) and that was a factor that enabled Medvedev to win. Medvedev has nothing to lose after that win against Tien, and perhaps he can have a good serving day while going after ADM's serve that is still vulnerable despite improvements...