CALVIA, June 24, 2021
Top seed Daniil Medvedev will lead the semi-finals line-up at the inaugural Mallorca Championships, Spain’s first-ever ATP grass-court event. The World No. 2 from Russia defeated Casper Ruud of Norway 7-5, 6-1 on a hot sunny Thursday afternoon with temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius in Santa Ponca, Calvia.
On a sold-out Center Court at the Mallorca Country Club, Medvedev sent down eight aces and won 86 per cent of his first-service points to advance after one hour and 17 minutes.
Eastbourne 2017 🇬🇧
Queen’s 2019 🇬🇧
Mallorca 2021 🇪🇸A 3rd career ATP semi-final on grass for @DaniilMedwed 👏@MallorcaChamps pic.twitter.com/xJqBjKzFeF
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 24, 2021
“It was a tricky match. The court is getting a little bit tougher with a lot of tricky bounces. It was kind of a funny match, which was maybe not of the highest level but I am happy to be through to the semi-finals,” Medvedev said after recording his 20th match win on grass.
“He played really well in the first set and was serving well on the lines,” the 25-year-old Moscow native added in his post-match press conference. “I didn’t have any chance. I won only one point on his first serve. I managed to take control of the match when he started to drop his level a little bit. The second set was a bit different. Every game of my serve was tight, every game of his serve was also tight, but he actually didn’t win a game on his serve. There a still things to improve. The court is not easy to play. I still need to get used to the grass and getting ready for tomorrow.”
Medvedev will next take on No. 4 seeded Pablo Carreno Busta, who beat Jordan Thompson of Australia 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes. The Spaniard trails Medvedev 1-2 in their head-to-head record.
Querrey loves Mallorca, faces Mannarino
Later in the day, Sam Querrey knocked out No. 3 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-3, 7-6(4). The 33-year-old US-American fired 25 aces and won 84 per cent of his first-service points to secure victory in one hour and 31 minutes.
“Roberto is an excellent returner. I took my chances on the serve and fortunately a lot of the second serves were dropping in. The tie-break was just one break. A lot of times with these good players like Roberto, it’s just one point here or there,” said Querrey.
Querrey, who has come to Mallorca for the first time, is enjoying his stay on the Balearic Island.
“It’s great so far. The food for the players is the best food of the year. Just incredible. This beats being in London right now, where it is cold and rainy. The weather here is great. I hope to come back year after year.”
Querrey will next take on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who fought past Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes in the final match of the day.
We have our semi-finalists!
🇷🇺 Medvedev vs 🇪🇸 Carreño
🇺🇸 Querrey vs 🇫🇷 Mannarino @atptour | @ATPTour_ES | #ATPMallorca pic.twitter.com/TuGA3duC7F— Mallorca Championships (@MallorcaChamps) June 24, 2021
