LONDON – Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia rallied to defeat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria.
It is the second title of the season and 15th in his career for the 26-year-old Medvedev, who completed his 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in two hours and 16 minutes.
Medvedev saved six of nine break points and finished with 26 winners and 20 unforced errors. Shapovalov posted 38 winners and 31 unforced errors and finally succumbed on Medvedev’s seventh match point.
“This match was the best of the week because Denis was really playing unreal until probably 4-3 in the second set,” Medvedev said. “He dropped his level by maybe two percent and I was able to use it.”
“This is one of the best victories, when you know your opponent is on top of you, but you try and stay there and do what you can.”
“I am really happy,” world number four Medvedev told the official ATP website.
“This match was the best of the week because Denis was really playing unreal until probably 4-3 in the second set.
“He dropped his level by maybe two per cent and I was able to use it.
“This is one of the best victories when you know your opponent is on top of you, but you try and stay there and do what you can.”
Medvedev has now won 15 tour-level titles, with seven of them coming on indoor hard courts.
Swiss Indoors
No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada captured his third straight title with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against unseeded Holger Rune of Denmark in Basel, Switzerland.
Auger-Aliassime followed up his October championships in Florence, Italy, and Antwerp, Belgium, and extended his winning streak to 13 consecutive matches with the win in one hour and 40 minutes.
It is the fourth career tour-level title for Auger-Aliassime, 22, who hammered 11 aces, saved all three break points and finished with 34 winners and nine unforced errors.
Rune posted 21 winners and only six unforced errors, but Auger-Aliassime came through with a crucial service break in the penultimate game of the match.
The Canadian, who stunned world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals, became the third player to win a title in 2022 without dropping a service game, emulating Taylor Fritz and Nick Kyrgios at Eastbourne and Washington respectively.
He said: “It’s been an amazing week. Once again in the final, not getting broken all week… (It’s been) a long year, a long stretch of wins, and it’s not over.
“So hopefully I can keep going, but right now I’m feeling all the good emotions that come with winning a tournament.”
Auger-Aliassime added the Basel title to his wins in Florence and Antwerp, extending his winning streak to 13 matches.
Medvedev becomes the sixth player to earn his spot for the season-ending ATP Finals alongside Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic, with the season finale to be played in Turin from November 13-20.
“I like to play indoor hard courts at the end of the season,” Medvedev said. “I feel that I do a great job with my team not to arrive burnt out. I am looking forward to the last two tournaments of the year which are really important and I usually play well.”
Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime will now head to the Paris Masters, alongside Brits Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Jack Draper.
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