Tennis

Daniil Medvedev eases past Facundo Bagnis at French Open for first win of injury comeback


Daniil Medvedev got his French Open campaign off to a winning start in what was just his second match since March after undergoing hernia surgery. He needed just an hour and 38 minutes to ease past Facundo Bagnis 6-2 6-2 6-2 to earn the first victory of his comeback

Medvedev was playing just the second match of his comeback from hernia surgery, after losing to Richard Gasquet on his return at the Geneva ATP 250 last week. The world No 2 is chasing Novak Djokovic’s top spot this fortnight with the world No 1 defending 2,000 ranking points as the reigning champion, and got off to a fast start in his quest to chase the Serb.

In what was his first meeting with world No 104 Bagnis, the 26-year-old broke in the first game with a stunning backhand winner down-the-line, but he then found himself 15-40 down and got back to deuce before gifting the break straight back on a double-fault. Both players held for 2-2 but it was all Medvedev afterwards as he won eight games in a row, with the Argentine looking physically hampered with tape covering his right calf.

Last year’s quarter-finalist managed to retrieve his break-lead for 3-2 and broke again to serve for the opener, closing it out 6-2 in 39 minutes. And he continued his run of games into the second set, quickly leading 4-0 after 13 minutes with two more breaks of serve.

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Bagnis finally got himself on the board in the second set as he held for 1-4 and suddenly found himself 0-40 down on the Medvedev serve, but the Russian denied his opponent the chance to get one of the breaks back as he won five points in a row to hold for 5-1, sealing the game with a drop shot. It was another 6-2 set for the second seed as he served it out 

Like the two previous sets, Medvedev started the third by breaking in the opening game. He found himself at break points down once again while serving at 2-1 and got himself back to deuce, but this time was broken by his opponent for the first time since the second game of the match as the Court Philippe-Chartier crowd erupted in support of the underdog.





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