Daniil Medvedev of Moscow, Russia won the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam, Netherlands this past weekend. In the final, Medvedev, the sixth seed, defeated Italy’s Jannik Sinner, 5-7. 6-2, 6-2.
For Medvedev, it was his 16th ATP title and ninth title in an ATP event ranked 500 or higher. Over the last five years, Medvedev has won the 2018 Japan Open (500 series event), the 2019 Cincinnati Masters (1000 series event), the 2019 Shanghai Masters (1000 series event), the 2020 Paris Masters (1000 series event), the 2020 ATP Finals, the 2021 Canadian Open (1000 series event), the 2021 United States Open (grand slam event), and the 2022 Vienna Open (500 series event).
In the final, Medvedev was the better player when it came to returning the serve. He broke Sinner five times and won 43 points returning Sinner’s serve. Sinner only won 30 points returning Medvedev’s serve.
During the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam this past week, Medvedev beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round, Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-2 in the second round, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.
The wins over Auger-Aliassime and Dimitrov were significant. Auger-Aliassime was the number three seed, the defending champion in Rotterdam, had an outstanding indoor hard court season, and is a grand slam semifinalist having made the final four of the 2021 United States Open. Dimitrov meanwhile made the semifinals of the 2014 Wimbledon, 2017 Australian Open, and 2019 United States Open. However on Saturday in the semifinals, Dimitrov only won three games, 33% of the total points on his second serve, and was outaced 8-0 by Medvedev.
