NEW DELHI: World No. 3 Daniil Medvedev went down 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the second round of the Libema Open, an ATP250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, on Thursday.
Medvedev, who has won a Tour-leading five titles this season, had beaten Mannarino in the semifinals before losing to local wildcard Tim van Rijthoven in the final last year. However, the top-seeded Russian, awarded a bye in the opening round this year, began his 2023 grass-court season with a loss in two hours.
World No. 52 Mannarino, the 2019 champion at the event, came into the clash with a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over Medvedev. While he conceded the opening set in 34 minutes, he broke Medvedev twice in the second to take the match to a decider.
In the third set, the Frenchman again broke Medvedev twice, in the fourth and the eighth game, to claim the biggest win of his career and progress to the quarterfinals where he will face either Australian Jordan Thompson or Canadian Milos Raonic, who returned to Tour-level tennis after two years.
In the other second-round matches, Australia’s Alexei Popyrin lost 3-6, 2-6 to Tallon Griekspoor. The sixth-seeded Dutchman will face Popyrin’s compatriot Alex de Minaur, who beat Serbia’s Laslo Djere 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3, in the quarterfinals. Agencies
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