At the start of the match, both players were still quite cautious on the grass of the OWL Arena. As a result, they didn't get the best angle on the ball and made a number of mistakes. The changeover from the slow clay court to the fast grass court was difficult for them. However, Daniil Medvedev and Nuno Borges, who met for the first and only time so far at the Australian Open in Melbourne at the beginning of the year, improved as the match progressed. Back then, the current world number five won a hard-fought match in four sets in the round of 16. And it was to be close again this time.
After two breaks at the start, both players got their serves through. The favourite Daniil Medvedev came under pressure at 6:5 for the Portuguese player, who plays for Tennispark Bärchen Versmold in the German Bundesliga. He had to fend off a set point to reach the tie-break. But then he dominated the action on the court. Daniil Medvedev won the tie-break and the first set 7:4.
However, Nuno Borges was not fazed by losing the set. In his next four service games, he only allowed the world number five to win one point. And he came close to breaking the set himself. Daniil Medvedev fended off two break points, finally took a 5:4 lead in the second set and then a technical dilemma arose. A serve from Nuno Borges was initially called in. Daniil Medvedev disputed this. However, the obligatory replay by the Hawkeye could not be seen. The umpire finally gave the serve away. The Portuguese player was visibly confused and lost his rhythm. The Hawkeye then interfered again in the middle of a rally so that the point had to be replayed. Daniil Medvedev was able to handle the situation better and converted his second match point to win 7:6(4), 6:4 after a good hour and a half of play.
"It's always difficult to adjust to the grass. But it got better and better as the match went on. I'm obviously very satisfied and happy to have won the match," said a delighted Daniil Medvedev after the match.
