Vienna, ATP 500

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/gS1Tc2uYa9gSgU25A

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First round has Medvedev vs Fils, Grigor vs Musetti, Thiem vs Tsitsipas, Evans vs Tiafoe, Sheldon vs Sinner.

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Grigor takes out Musetti, continuing his good form. It was a very easy on the eye match with those 2. Tsitsipas takes Thiem in 2 sets, 1st set a tiebreaker. Evans gets injured and retires leading in the 1st set.

[jimlosaltos]

Grigor takes out Musetti, continuing his good form. It was a very easy on the eye match with those 2. Tsitsipas takes Thiem in 2 sets, 1st set a tiebreaker. Evans gets injured and retires leafing in the 1st set.

Saw a short clip of Evans getting injured. Didn't look good.
Did a look as if something hit him in the back of the calf as he was walking out, then realized something popped

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Fils looks to have no answers thus far to the Wall of Med. As Jason Goodall pined, Fils is looking for a short cut vs Medvedev, and there are none.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/P6kq8y9UGPTbTMZp9

Jason Goodell called this a "balanced portfolio" by Med. Ha, I would agree with that.

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Med takes Grigor 6-4 in 3rd set. It all came down to 4-4 in the 3rd, Grigor gets broken. Med serves it out from there.

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Match of the day, Medvedev vs Tsitsipas. Medvedev of course the favorite, he has been putting up a "balanced portfolio" all week. There will be no shortcuts for Tsitsipas if he is to take it.

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Med wins a very well played 1st set, 6-4, behind one break of serve, before an enthusiastic full house crowd. There was an instance with Med serving for the 1st set at 30-15 that showed what a unique tough ask Med is. Stef hit a real crowd pleaser forehand that curled in for a down the line winner. Stef was pleased and the crowd went crazy. Med just quickly stepped up to the line, as if to say next point/not impressed, and won the next 2 points to close out the set.

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https://photos.app.goo.gl/Es2JxgffrXEfgYkq7

Both portfolios looked very good, but Meds just a bit tidier.

[jimlosaltos]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Es2JxgffrXEfgYkq7

Both portfolios looked very good, but Meds just a bit tidier.

Tight as can be.

Two missed forehands in the final set tiebreak by Stef kept it from going three.

Octopus got more first serves in and won baseline battle, but Stef was 9/12 at the net vs 6/11 and had 32 winners vs 22 (both net +10)

Medy is on track to win 70 matches on the year without winning a major. Not sure if his glass if half full or half empty.

Per Jeff Sackmann of tennisabstract here's the good company Medvedev could be in soon:
Here are the last ten with 70/zero

2015 71 Andy Murray
2014 74 Roger Federer
2012 76 David Ferrer
2009 78 Novak Djokovic
2006 70 Nikolay Davydenko
2004 74 Andy Roddick
2003 72 Rainer Schuettler
1997 71 Jonas Bjorkman
1996 77 Goran Ivanisevic
1995 74 Yevgeny Kafelnikov

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Tight as can be.

Two missed forehands in the final set tiebreak by Stef were the difference.

Octopus got more first serves in and won baseline battle, but Stef was 9/12 at the net vs 6/11 and had 32 winners vs 22 (both net +10)

Medy is on track to win 70 matches on the year without winning a major. Not sure if his glass if half full or half empty.

Per Jeff Sackmann of tennisabstract here's the good company Medvedev could be in soon:
Here are the last ten with 70/zero

2015 71 Andy Murray
2014 74 Roger Federer
2012 76 David Ferrer
2009 78 Novak Djokovic
2006 70 Nikolay Davydenko
2004 74 Andy Roddick
2003 72 Rainer Schuettler
1997 71 Jonas Bjorkman
1996 77 Goran Ivanisevic
1995 74 Yevgeny Kafelnikov

A lot of good company there.

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Nice final tomorrow, Med vs Sinner. Med is the slight favorite. No one brings more cumulative heat off both wings than Sinner. Should be a good one.

[jimlosaltos]

Nice final tomorrow, Med vs Sinner. Med is the slight favorite. No one brings more cumulative heat off both wings than Sinner. Should be a good one.

Indeed. Medy leads their H2H 6-1 winning 12 of first 14 sets they played, but Sinner won the most recent just weeks ago in Beijing in a pair of TBs 76² 76²

Let's see how Jannie's sparkly new serve does the second time Medy gets to see it

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Great 1st set.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ExCzGuNUPQQgngf17