Daniil Medvedev thrashed 6-0, 6-0 by Matteo Berrettini in Monte Carlo, smashes racket four times
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Russia's Daniil Medvedev smashing his racket onto the clay during his 6-0, 6-0 loss to Italian Matteo Berrettini in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on April 8.
PHOTO: AFP
MONTE CARLO – Daniil Medvedev suffered an embarrassing 6-0, 6-0 humbling at the hands of 90th-ranked Matteo Berrettini in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on April 8.
It was the first time in his career that the 30-year-old Russian former world No. 1 had suffered a double-bagel defeat.
“We all know Daniil doesn’t love clay as much as I do, but he won Rome as well. That’s why I was focused,” said Berrettini.
“I didn’t want to lose my focus as I know tennis is a tricky sport and anything can happen during the game right? So I’m really happy with how I handled my nerve and really happy to be through to the third round.”
Medvedev has had a rocky relationship with clay, with just one of his 23 ATP Tour titles coming on the surface – at the 2023 Italian Open.
On April 8, the seventh seed missed two break points in the opening game and then completely unravelled, making 27 unforced errors and serving five double faults.
Medvedev did not win more than two points in any of the last 11 games as his frustrations boiled over in the second set, smashing his racket onto the clay four times on centre court.
The Russian won just nine points on serve during the whole match. Overall, he won 17 points in 12 games out of 67 played.
Berrettini wrapped up the double-bagel victory in just 49 minutes.
Said the Italian: “I think it was one of the best performances of my life. I think I missed three shots in the entire match and it is not easy against a tricky player like Daniil. I think the game plan was perfect and my weapons were working.
“I faced two break points in the first game and then after that, it felt I was playing better than him. I was not expecting to win zero, zero like that. But I kept my focus as I know one break or two breaks is not enough sometimes, so I kept pushing.”
Per OptaAce, Berrettini is just the fifth player since the ATP Rankings were published in 1973 to defeat a top-10 opponent with a double bagel.
The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up will next face Brazilian Joao Fonseca in the last 16, after the 19-year-old battled past France’s Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile, third seed Alexander Zverev survived a scare as he came from a set down to overcome 109th-ranked Chilean Cristian Garin 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the round of 32.
After levelling the contest by clinching the second set, the German got off to a grim start in the third as he fell 4-0 behind.
But the world No. 3 picked up the pace, breaking Garin in the fifth game to keep his hopes of a comeback alive. He then won crucial breaks in the ninth and 11th games to power into a 6-5 lead before holding his nerve to serve out the match.
Zverev will next play Belgian Zizou Bergs, who beat 13th-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-1 on the same day.
Canadian sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime will meet Norway’s ninth seed Casper Ruud in the last 16. Auger-Aliassime beat veteran Croat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 while Ruud took out Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-5, 6-3. AFP
