Vienna Open: Medvedev sinks Shapo to clinch men’s single title

World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev didn’t have things all his own but he stepped up when needed to overcome Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final to clinch men’s single title at Vienna Open, here on Sunday.

The top seed was overpowered by Shapovalov in an entertaining first set, with the Canadian firing 21 winners to move ahead. However, the Russian player refused to go away throughout the two-hour, 16-minute clash, hitting with greater depth and accuracy in the second and third sets to force Shapovalov into errors at the ATP 500 event.

Medvedev now leads the 23-year-old Shapovalov 4-2 in their ATP Head to Head series, while he has improved to 45-15 on the season. Earlier this year, he reached the final at the Australian Open before he won the title in Los Cabos.

The 26-year-old looked back to his very best during a dominant week in Austria. He did not drop a set or lose serve en route to the championship match, securing his spot at the ATP Finals — to be held in Turin from November — along the way.

In front of a packed crowd in the championship match, Medvedev produced moments of magic in the third set as he blunted the attack of Shapovalov with a range of stunning passing shots. The top seed hit 24 winners and broke serve five times, sealing the title on his sixth match point.

Medvedev, who reached the quarter-finals in his only previous appearance in Vienna, has now won 15 tour-level titles, with seven coming on indoor hard courts. The 2020 ATP Finals champion will now head to the Paris Masters, where he will aim to capture his second title at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Shapovalov was competing in his second tour-level final of the month after advancing to that stage in Seoul. The Canadian, who is up to No. 16 in the ATP Live Rankings, was unable to match Medvedev’s intensity in the third set as he looked to win his second tour-level crown and first since 2019, when he triumphed in Stockholm.

-IANS