World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev replied to a fan's comment criticizing his match-winning shot almost hitting Alex de Minaur in the second round of the China Open.
The second-seeded Russian finished off his opponent with a powerfully struck drive volley after de Minaur had dug out one of his drop shots. But Medvedev's point-ending shot was arrowing straight at the Australian's body before he moved out of the way in a flash.
Medvedev could be seen immediately raising his hand to apologize and de Minaur didn't make a big deal of it, as the two players shook hands at the net. It was Medvedev's 40th win on hard courts, the most of any ATP player this season and keeps up his slim hopes of finishing as the year-end No. 1 for the first time.
One fan was not going to let Medvedev off the hook for that shot that almost hit his opponent, when he commented below the video which was posted by Tennis TV on Instagram, saying, 'Hard volley to the body completely unnecessary, this guy needs some more class, and to grow up also.' Medvedev would reply to the comment with laughing emojis saying, 'You really have some problems, right?'
With the win, Medvedev has now made the quarterfinals or better in 13 tournaments this season. He will face unseeded lefty Ugo Humbert for the third time. Surprisingly, Medvedev lost to the Frenchman in their two previous meetings. Medvedev will be counting on his confidence which he felt was key in getting the win over de Minaur.
"Confidence is key. When I am in good shape and in good form, I have the ability to win these kinds of matches in straight sets. If I’m missing just two percent of what I’m doing right now, that’s when it’s tougher. That’s what happened in Toronto. I should have won the first set [there]. It’s a matter of a few points, at this moment it’s working and I’m going to try to keep going."
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