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Medvedev Gets US Open Prep Back on Track with Win in Cincinnati

Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, reacts following his win over Botic van de Zandschulp, of the Netherlands, during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)
Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, reacts following his win over Botic van de Zandschulp, of the Netherlands, during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)
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Medvedev Gets US Open Prep Back on Track with Win in Cincinnati

Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, reacts following his win over Botic van de Zandschulp, of the Netherlands, during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)
Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, reacts following his win over Botic van de Zandschulp, of the Netherlands, during the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, in Mason, Ohio. (AP)

Daniil Medvedev looked like he had a point to prove as the Russian got preparations for his US Open title defense back on track with a 6-4 7-5 win over Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday.

Medvedev had been building momentum ahead of the year's last Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows by winning a tune-up event in Los Cabos without dropping a set but was beaten by Nick Kyrgios in the second round of the Canadian Masters in Montreal last week.

The Russian starting strongly against Dutchman Van de Zandschulp with an immediate break before going on to win the first set.

The second set posed more of a challenge, with the world number one having to save a set point, but he capitalized on several double-faults from Van de Zandschulp before wrapping up the match.

"The second set was going not that bad," Medvedev said in an on-court interview. "He was not serving especially well today, doing a lot of double faults. So I tried to keep pressure, use my chances.

"Two breaks on these fast courts is enough to win and I should have done a little bit better on my serve. But the first match is tricky and I'm happy that I managed to go though, and hopefully I will raise my level in the next matches."

Medvedev will face either American Tommy Paul or Canada's Denis Shapovalov in the next round.

World number four Carlos Alcaraz also bounced back from last week's upset defeat by Paul in Montreal, breezing past local hope Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-2 to set up a third-round match-up against former US Open champion Marin Cilic, who beat Emil Ruusuvuori.

Kyrgios quickly regained his composure after losing his temper during a 7-5 6-4 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach the second round, where he will face Taylor Fritz.

Kyrgios appeared in complete control when he fired down an unreturnable serve to capture the first set and went up a break early in the second.

But when the Spaniard leveled at 2-2 it prompted the fiery Australian to launch a ball into the stands in a moment reminiscent of his win over Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon, where the Greek did the same thing and Kyrgios argued unsuccessfully that he should be defaulted for it.

But Kyrgios quickly regained his cool, holding to love in the next game and sealing the victory with another massive serve to set up a meeting with American Fritz in the last tune-up event before the US Open, which begins on Aug. 29 in New York.

Fritz's powerful serving and aggressive returns resulted in a 6-1 6-1 victory over Argentine Sebastian Baez earlier in the day. The win was the 11th seed's 33rd of the year and it extended Baez's losing streak to six matches.

Jannik Sinner, seeded 10th, was made to work hard on his 21st birthday, the Italian needing three hours and 15 minutes for a 6-7(9) 6-4 7-6(6) victory over Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis to improve to 37-10 on the year.

Argentine Diego Schwartzman also celebrated a birthday, his 30th, with a 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 win over Aslan Karatsev in a late match to advance to the third round.

In other first-round matches at the Masters 1000 tournament, Paul beat compatriot Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-2, Australia's Alex de Minaur dispatched Swiss Henri Laaksonen 6-2 6-2, Croatian Borna Coric defeated Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(2) 6-3 and Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-2 6-3.

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Australian Open Champion Jannik Sinner’s Style Draws Comparisons to Novak Djokovic 

Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup the morning after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup the morning after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
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Australian Open Champion Jannik Sinner’s Style Draws Comparisons to Novak Djokovic 

Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup the morning after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup the morning after defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (AP)

Of all the praise bestowed on Jannik Sinner after he won his second consecutive Australian Open championship, and third Grand Slam title overall, nothing felt as significant as the comparison made by runner-up Alexander Zverev.

Facing Sinner, particularly on hard courts, reminded Zverev a lot of trying to solve the challenge presented by none other than 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic.

"He’s very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best. They barely miss. Like, barely miss. They make you think like you have to overhit all the time to have a chance in a rally against them," Zverev said after losing to Sinner 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Sunday night.

"It’s very, very difficult to win a point from the back of the court against them — against Novak and him," said Zverev, who is ranked No. 2 but felt much further away from No. 1 Sinner in Rod Laver Arena. "(Both) move, obviously, tremendous. They’re constantly on the baseline. They don’t give you any space. They don’t give you any time."

Sinner, still just 23, is a long way from achieving just a fraction of what Djokovic has at 37, of course.

And just as Djokovic had a couple of hurdles by the names of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to deal with, Sinner is not alone among the newest generation of tennis stars. His top rival at this point is Carlos Alcaraz, who has four Slam victories at age 21 — and won all three matches he played against Sinner in 2024.

Still, it made sense to think of Djokovic while watching Sinner extend his record in major finals to 3-0, which includes a US Open title in September.

What about Sinner is similar to Djokovic?

The never-give-an-inch court coverage. The squeaking sneakers while sprinting, stretching, sliding to reach shots that most other players wouldn't. The ability to flip from defense to offense in a split second. The wherewithal and reflexes to neutralize even the biggest servers.

Add it all up — plus a serve good enough to avoid any break points against Zverev — and Sinner is certainly formidable.

Those Djokovic-like tendencies are not mere coincidence.

Sinner, who is from Italy, modeled himself after the Serbian star.

"Game style-wise I looked up to him, trying to understand what he’s doing, how he handles the pressure moments and important moments," Sinner said. "I still believe we are different as players, because everyone is different, but for sure we have similarities. The similarities are having quite clean ball-striking from the baseline, having good movement, understanding a little bit where your opponent (is going to play) the ball."

Sinner keeps improving

The swift improvement Sinner has made over the past couple of years is unmistakable.

It's why he ascended atop the rankings last June and hasn't budged. It's why he is 80-6 with nine titles since the start of last season. It's why no one wants to play him these days.

Zverev was 4-2 against Sinner before Sunday, including wins at the US Open in 2021 and 2023.

How much has Sinner changed since then?

"He serves better. He returns better. He hits his forehand better. He hits his backhand better. He moves better. He volleys better. I mean, there’s nothing that he doesn’t do better right now," Zverev said. "I remember those matches. Before, I always felt like once I was getting on top of the rally, I was winning most of those rallies. Now it’s like he’s prime Novak. It’s so difficult to go through him."

The upcoming task will be to get better on clay and grass, the surfaces at the French Open and Wimbledon. Before play begins at Roland Garros in May, Sinner has a hearing scheduled in April in the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of a ruling that cleared him in a doping case.

"At the moment, I’m not thinking about this," Sinner said. "Of course, you have your moments, (on) certain days, where you feel like: ‘I wish I would not have this problem.’"

Sinner and his two coaches, Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, all talk a lot about putting in hard work to grow even more as a player.

"He's still young. ... You never know what’s (going to) happen in the future, but for sure, he is a guy that tries to improve every day — going on court, (in) practice, trying to put new things (in) his game, trying to improve physically," Vagnozzi said. "He's one of the guys that can reach the top level. I mean, when we speak about top level, we think about Novak, about Roger or Rafa."

Pretty heady company.