Halle Open: Medvedev enters second round

Daniil Medvedev defeated Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Halle Open 2023. Medvedev lost in the first round of last week’s tournament in Stuttgart, but he was never in danger during his opening game at Owl Arena. After 71 minutes, Medvedev won after saving all three break points he was given. Medvedev reached the Halle final last year and won all eight sets he faced en route to the title match. When he arrived, Hubert Hurkacz defeated him in straight sets. “It was a really tough match. It was definitely not the best match of my life. I was still lacking the rhythm a little bit. But [regardless of] that, he played very well,” ATP.com quoted Medvedev as saying in his on-court interview. “I’m happy to win because sometimes grass is like this. You need to break one time in a set and serve well, and the match is yours. And that’s what I managed to do… I think I had only three games where I had chances on his serve. I managed to take two of them, amazing, and I saved all of the tough moments I had on my serve,” Medvedev said. Another triumphant Halle debutant was Denis Shapovalov, who moved past Lloyd Harris 7-6(1), 6-4 to reach the second round. The World No. 27, a 2021 semi-finalist on grass at Wimbledon, next plays the winner of Tuesday’s blockbuster clash between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem.