Medvedev wins third David Cup for Russia

Madrid, Dec 5 (EFE).- Daniil Medvedev, ranked No. 2 in the tennis world and the most reliable weapon in the Russian Tennis Federation’s arsenal, on Sunday in Madrid brought his country its third Davis Cup title and the first in 15 years.

With Medvedev’s 7-6 (7), 6-2 win against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, Russia closed out a great year in tennis competition, having won the ATP Cup early in 2021, the Billie Jean King Cup – the women’s tennis tourney equivalent in prestige with the Davis Cup – and the Youth Davis Cup. In addition, the team won the most awards in the sport at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Medvedev, 25, also won his first Grand Slam after dominating Novak Djokovic, in New York at the US Open final.

Meanwhile, in the other Davis Cup final event, Russia’s Andrey Rublev defeated Croatia’s Borna Gojo, who had surprised everyone by winning his previous three singles matches against players who had been ranked markedly higher than his No. 279 spot.

Although Gojo battled hard, Rublev was too strong for him in the end, albeit only after a hard-fought 6-4 7-6 (5) contest.

During the Davis Cup tourney, Medvedev did not lose a single set to Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez, Spain’s Pablo Carreño, Sweden’s Mikael Ymer, Germany’s Jan Lennard Struf or in the final against Cilic.

The Croat came the closest among all of them to winning a set against the Muscovite, forcing a tie-break at the end of the final’s first set, although he couldn’t hang on to take the set.

After that, Cilic lost steam and Medvedev cruised to victory, meeting the predictions for a Russian win in Madrid and recovering Moscow’s dominance in men’s tennis, with four of the men’s team players among the world’s top-30 and two of them in the top-five.

EFE apa/ism/bp