Medvedev Maneuvers Past Inspired Dimitrov Into Vienna Open Quarterfinals

| by Evita Mueller

Daniil Medvedev once again had trouble with Grigor Dimitrov but still came out on top in three sets at the 2023 Vienna Open.

Dimitrov has been known to give Medvedev some problems, especially when he's playing as well as he has this year. He's had a pretty great year overall, arguably his best in quite some time.

They played last year in Vienna, and Medvedev won that match, and the same thing happened one year later. It didn't come easy, though, as the Russian struggled in the opening set because Dimitrov was amazing.

He was all over the court, putting Medvedev in quite a lot of uncomfortable positions, which resulted in far too many errors. That, along with the super solid play from Dimitrov, and heavy balls that the Russian dislikes, was enough for the Bulgarian to win the opening set 6-3.

The script flipped completely in the second set as Medvedev turned into Terminator, playing a pretty flawless set 6-2. He had 11 winners, no unforced errors, which is the crucial thing, and 3 aces.

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That momentum-shifting set mattered as Medvedev now looked completely focused, and yet he faced some trouble. Early in the 3rd set, Dimitrov created some break chances but couldn't convert as Medvedev didn't make any mistakes in the big moments.

Slowly but surely, Medvedev was extending rallies and grinding out points, which created chances. Dimitrov barely held at 3-3, but he wouldn't be so lucky next time as Medvedev jumped out to a 40-0 lead, and the Bulgarian couldn't respond to that.

He converted his chances to take a 5-4 lead and then finished things off in the very next game. A very solid effort from Dimitrov, albeit not enough against Cyborg Medvedev, who finished with an impressive stat line. He had 14 aces, 31 winners and only 13 unforced errors in the 3-6 6-2 6-4 win.

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