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Top seed Medvedev sees off Ivashka in Halle Open

Medvedev was pleased to prevail in another high-quality clash with Belarusian Ivashka, who was aiming to reach his fourth quarterfinal of the season on the Halle grass.

Top seed Medvedev sees off Ivashka in Halle Open

Top seed Medvedev sees off Ivashka in Halle Open. (Picture Credits - IANS)

Top seed Daniil Medvedev defeated Ilya Ivashka 7-6(4), 6-3 at the ATP 500 event in Halle Open here on Thursday.

Medvedev was pleased to prevail in another high-quality clash with Belarusian Ivashka, who was aiming to reach his fourth quarterfinal of the season on the Halle grass.

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The Russian backed up his straight-sets quarterfinal win over the World No. 42 Ivashka at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week with a victory.

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However, it was by no means plain sailing for the World No. 1, who fended off three set points at 4-5 in the opening set before going on to clinch it in a tie-break. Things were more comfortable for Medvedev in the second set, when a series of finely-crafted passing shots were the highlight as he wrapped up a one-hour, 36-minute victory to improve his career match record on grass to 30-15.

Medvedev will now face seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut or qualifier Tallon Griekspoor in his maiden quarterfinal appearance in Halle.

“He is a great player,” said the 26-year-old after he improved his lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 3-1.

“He had a lot of bad luck with injuries at the beginning of the season. At the end of last season he was playing really great tennis. I’ve known him since I was very young, we actually played (each other) in Futures, Challengers, and on the ATP Tour. He beat me once in Davis Cup, which is a really important tournament. So he knows how to play tennis, he knows how to play well on grass, so I’m really happy that two times in a row I managed to pass a tough test,” he said.

(Inputs from IANS)

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