Popyrin Beats Medvedev in Battle of Former Champions

Three ex-NBO winners were on the night session schedule, while a pair of seeds who had strong Masters 1000 showings earlier in the season led the day session.

Doubles play also began on Thursday, with the top seeds as well as three all-Canadian teams in action.

Follow the results as they happen.

CENTRE COURT - Starts At 12:30 PM

• [26] Alex Michelsen (USA) d. [3] Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
  • Michelsen seemed completely unphased when he dropped the opening set and then trailed by a break in the third. Playing gutsy tennis, the American kept fighting back and giving Musetti fits with his big hitting. He managed to hold his nerve after missing two match points on Musetti's serve at 5-3 and then letting a 40-love lead slip away when he served for it, finally converting his seventh match point to cause the first major upset of the tournament.
• [8] Casper Ruud (NOR) d. [30] Nuno Borges (POR) 7-5, 6-4
  • For a minute, it looked like Ruud could be about to follow in Musetti's footsteps as he got off to a sluggish start, quickly falling behind 0-3 to start the match. He managed to fight back, winning five games in a row from 1-4 down to take the set. The Norwegian had to save a break point to avoid doing it again in the second, but eventually secured the only break of the second set which he clung to.

Not Before 7:00 PM

• [1] Alexander Zverev (GER) d. [32] Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2
  • Arnaldi was giving the German fits early on as he rallied from a set down to take the opening set. But as the match went along, Zverev started to wear the Italian down with his deep, powerful hitting. Ultimately, the top seed's consistency proved to much. Errors began to take over Arnaldi's game in the decider and Zverev survived the scare by winning the last five points in a row.
• [18] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) d. [10] Daniil Medvedev 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
  • The defending champion broke early in both sets but had to battle to keep Medvedev at bay. In the first set, he was unsuccessful as the 2021 champion won five of the last six games to take the opening frame. But in the second and third, Popyrin broke to start the set and was able to save multiple break points as he clung to those leads. 

MOTOROLA RAZY GRANDSTAND COURT - start at 11:00 AM

• [11] Karen Khachanov d. [Q] Emilio Nava (USA) 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4
  • Nava played an inspired first set, fending off everything Khachanov threw at him, but he could not keep it up. Khachanov broke to go up 4-3 in the second and never looked back, winning 10 of the last 12 games.
• [14] Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) d. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG) 6-3, 6-4
  • Both men had plenty of opportunities in this one, with 19 break points across the 19 service games, but it was the higher-ranked Argentine getting the job done by scoring three breaks to his opponent's one. 

Not Before 3:00 PM

• Arthur Fils (FRA) / Ben Shelton (USA) d. Nathaniel Lammons (USA) / Jackson Withrow (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 10-8
  • The big-hitting singles stars shored up their serve after dropping the opening set. Then twice in the match tiebreak they trailed by a minibreak but fough back, eventually scoring the decisive one at 8-8 before serving out the match.

Not Before 5:00 PM

• Learner Tien (USA) d. Reilly Opelka (USA) 7-6(3), 6-3
  • It only took a couple of return points for Tien to get the job done. He secured two minibreaks in the first set tiebreak and converted his only break point in the match in the second set to take down his big-serving compatriot.
• [5] Holger Rune (DEN) d. [29] Alexandre Muller (FRA) 6-2, 6-4
  • Performances don't come much cleaner than what Rune delivered, converting all three of his break-point opportunities and never facing one on his own serve. He was only even pushed to deuce once.

COURT 1 - start at 12:30 PM

• [1] Marcelo Arevalo (ESA) / Mate Pavic (CRO) d. Jiri Lehecka (CZE) / Jakub Mensik (CZE) 7-6(9), 7-6(5)
  • The top seeds were pushed hard by the young Czechs but they managed to bring their best to the tiebreaks, grabbing early leads in both to squeak out a two-set win.
• [2] Julian Cash (GBR) / Lloyd Glasspool (GBR) d. Flavio Cobolli (ITA) / Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 6-3, 3-6 15-13
  • An epic match tiebreak was required to decide this one. The second seeds ralied from 7-9 down, ultimately saving three match points before needing four of their own to narrowly avoid the upset.  

Not Before 5:15 pm

• Alex Michelsen (USA) / Frances Tiafoe (USA) d.s [WC] Gabriel Diallo (CAN) / Alexis Galarneau (CAN) 7-6(6), 6-2
  • The Canadians served for the first set at 6-5 in the tiebreak but lost both points on serve, eventually dropping the breaker and getting rolled in the second set.
• [WC] Liam Draxl (CAN) / Cleeve Harper (CAN) d. [7] Christian Harrison (USA) / Evan King (USA) 7-5, 7-5
  • After five ATP Challenger Tour titles together, Draxl and Harper scored their first wins on the ATP main tour, breaking in the 11th game of each set before serving them out.

COURT 4 - start at 12:30 PM

• Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Sadio Doumbia (FRA) / Fabien Reboul (FRA) 6-7(8), 6-3, 10-5
  • Mektic and Ram bounce back well after dropping the first set, leading the match tiebreak wire to wire.

Not Before 3:00 PM

• Austin Krajicek (USA) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) d. Alex de Minaur (AUS) / Matthew Ebden (AUS) 7-5, 6-2
  • The Aussies had four break points to go up 6-5 in the first but failing to convert flipped the momentum. Krajicek and Zeballos immediately broke to take the set in the following game and cruised through the second.

Not before 5:15 PM

• [Alt] Fernando Romboli (BRA) / John-Patrick Smith (AUS) d. Robert Galloway (USA) / Brandon Nakashima (USA) 6-4,1-6, 10-4
  • The alternates for the alternates took full advantage of their good fortune, racing out to a 5-1 lead in the match tiebreak and cruising to the finish line.  
• John Peers (AUS) / Jan Zielinski (POL)  d. Yuki Bhambri (IND) / Michael Venus (NZL) 6-4, 3-6, 12-10
  • Peers and Zielinski had a tough time closing out the match, playing a poor second set to let the match go to a super tiebreak and then missing their first three match points but they finally got it done on the fourth time of asking.

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Feature Photo : Peter Power