DIRIYAH, December 14, 2019
Daniil Medvedev is the champion of the first ever Diriyah Tennis Cup presented by Saudi Aramco. The top seed from Russia defeated Fabio Fognini from Italy in Saturday’s final 6-2, 6-2 to claim the title of Saudi-Arabia’s inaugural international tennis event.
Medvedev advanced to the final with wins over Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany in the first round and Belgian David Goffin in the stage of the final four. The World No. 5 earned $1 million in prize money.
رئيس مجلس إدارة الهيئة العامة للرياضة صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير عبد العزيز بن تركي الفيصل يتوّج دانيال ميدفيديف🇷🇺بطلاً للنسخة الأولى من #كأس_الدرعية_للتنس 🎾 @DiriyahCup
🏵 @saudi_aramco
🎟 https://t.co/36u1YxB76U#كن_جزءاً_من_التاريخ #موسم_الدرعية pic.twitter.com/qZMyOTQJvM— DiriyahSeason | موسم الدرعية (@DiriyahSeason) December 14, 2019
“I am very happy to be first who won here,” Medvedev said, quoted by the Diriyah Tennis Cup tournament’s website. “I just tried to give my best, do my job and entertaining the crowd a little bit. The crowd was not that big but people were cheering and the ceremony it was really amazing and cool. So I have just great memories. Of course I always try to serve as good as I can and that was a big strength in my match today. My main goal is to win every match I play – of course it is not possible, but my goal.“
Medvedev was scheduled to play the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi next week but the Russian announced that he is forced to pull out of the event due to hip problems. The Moscow native will open the new season at the ATP Cup in January in Australia.
Second edition of the Diriyah Tennis Cup in 2020
Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki AlFaisal Al Saud, Chairman of the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia, confirmed plans for the 2020 edition were already underway.
“This is only the start of tennis in our country but what an incredible start,” he said. “Already in a single week huge strides have been made and the sport has earned a place in the hearts of so many, young and old, boys and girls. I am extremely proud that a perfect platform has been built for tennis to grow. When we pictured staged an international event, the scenes here today are exactly what we hoped for. World-class tennis being played to a full stadium and players made to feel right at home. I know this will have inspired a lot of people to pick up a racket, including myself! Already we are discussing plans for an even bigger and better 2020 edition.”
