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Daniil Medvedev punched and slapped the tennis court in Vienna before pulling off an epic escape to beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 4-6 6-3 7-6(1), reaching his 100th tour-level quarter-final. The No. 3 seed forced a final set after losing the first, and twice came back from a break down in the decider to take it to a tiebreak. He saved a match point when Norrie served for victory.
But tensions also boiled over. Early in the third set, Medvedev unleashed his frustrations by repeatedly bending down and hitting the court, seemingly unhappy with how slow the surface was. “Not happy with the court surface, I think that’s the second time he’s done it in three points. Feels like it’s a little too slow. ‘Hate you, don’t like you!’” commentator Robbie Koenig joked.
After getting broken to trail 0-2, Medvedev slapped the court again, using combinations of the front and back of his hand. “That is not going to improve his mood or his dislike of the court he is currently on,” Peter Marcato said. “You don’t see that sort of reaction too often.”
The Russian blew break-back points as Norrie extended his lead to 3-0, and Medvedev bent down to the ground, balling his hand up into a fist and punching the court. “I’m not sure what all of this hitting the court is going to achieve right now,” Marcato added.
“Medvedev continues to show his lack of appreciation for the court. Could be confused with that being a winning stance for some players! Rather than going Super Smash Bros on the court as he’s been doing the last couple of games.”
The third seed regrouped afterwards and got the break back. But the rollercoaster continued, and Norrie broke to serve for victory. The British No. 2 had the match on his racket, leading 5-3 40-30 on his own serve. Medvedev refused to go away, though, and saved the match point with a winner before breaking.
Norrie survived a lengthy service game to lead 6-5, but Medvedev forced a tiebreak and absolutely ran away with it, winning the last seven points in a row to move into the last eight in Vienna.
Medvedev is now on a six-match winning streak, having won last week’s Almaty Open. It was the first successful title defence of the Russian’s career. And he’s also closing in on a qualification spot for the ATP Finals after moving on in Vienna.
The former world No. 1 will now face qualifier Adrian Mannarino, who stunned eighth seed Jakub Mensik on Wednesday. Norrie will look ahead to the Paris Masters, where he has happy memories after upsetting Carlos Alcaraz there last year.
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