DANIIL Medvedev‘s disappointing form continued in his home nation with a weird three-set loss to American Reilly Opelka in the second round of the St. Petersburg Open. In what was otherwise an incredibly predictable day, Medvedev suffered the loss after being in a commanding position. He won 12 more points than his opponent for the match and only dropped 15 points on serve, yet went down 2-6 7-5 6-4 in just under two hours at the ATP 500 event.

The number one seed only dropped two points on serve in the first set as he broke his opponent twice and Opelka’s usually reliable power serving was not clicking. In fact, the American won three of 15 points off his second serve, for a total of a 50 per cent clip for the set. Both players were even in the second set as the first 10 games went the way of the serve until Opelka was able to string a couple together at the end with a crucial break. Medvedev’s serving all set had been solid, but somehow despite losing just two points on-serve prior to his final service game of the second set, dropped the game and Opelka took charge.

It was a remarkable couple of sets for Opelka considering the American won 13 receiving points during them, yet two games in the only breaks of those sets (requiring eight points). Otherwise it was smooth sailing for the most part, though Medvedev will rue not making the most of four break point opportunities against the American. Opelka admitted it was a strange match but he was happy to take the win.

“It is always a tough match, playing one of the best players in the world in general, but especially at [his] home. [It is] a great win for me,” Opelka said post-match. “It was ugly for the first set-and-a-half. “I felt like I barely won any points on his serve, but part of that is just because of my opponent… Daniil is an absolute nightmare to play, especially for a guy like me because he just runs every ball down.”

Opelka became only the second unseeded player through to the quarter finals following Brit Cameron Norrie‘s victory yesterday. He now takes on seventh seed Borna Coric who knocked off Russian qualifier, Roman Safiullin in straight sets, 6-3 7-5. The 199th ranked Russian put up a fight against his top 30 opponent, but the rising Coric was a bit too consistent, serving four aces and winning 72 per cent of his first serve points off a 67 per cent efficiency, whilst keeping Safiullin to under 60 per cent. In fairness to the wildcard, his second serve winning percentage was incrtedible at 59 per cent, as he saved four break points, but Coric capitalised on another four. In the end the match lasted around an hour and 47 minutes before the Croatian could book his spot in the final eight.

Norrie’s quarter finals opponent is third seed Andrey Rublev who came from behind to knock off impressive young Frenchman Ugo Humbert. Rublev is one of the most in-form players this year with a few titles and some deep runs. He needed three sets and two hours and 14 minutes before he could defeat Humbert, with the match going down to the wire, 4-6 6-4 7-5. Humbert’s serving was a problem for the Russian with 14 aces and 76 per cent of his first serve points off a 60 per cent clip. The benefit was, Rublev was just as strong with nine aces and only dropping five points off his first serve.

The only other three-set match of the day was a come-from-behind win by fourth seed Karen Khachanov to avoid a shock loss to a man ranked 100 places lower than him in Russian wildcard, Aslan Karatsev. Khachanov needed two hours and 17 minutes to fight back and win 4-6 7-5 6-3 and move through to the quarter finals, serving seven aces and winning 55 per cent of his opponents’ second serve points which was a key difference in the end. The victory set up a huge quarter final clash with second seed Denis Shapovalov who knocked off Belarusian qualifier, Ilya Ivashka 6-1 6-4 in just 66 minutes on court.

In the late match of the day, Milos Raonic overcame Alexander Bublik to make it six out of eight seeds through to the last eight. Tomorrow Norrie and Rublev are first up on Centre Court, followed by Wawrinka and Shapovalov and then Opelka and Coric, with Khachanov and Raonic to be the prime time night session.

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