"It was a matter of a few points" - Medvedev after win over Ivashka

Daniil Medvedev is closer to celebrating his return to World No. 1 with a trophy thanks to a solid display against Ilya Ivashka in the quarter-finals at the Libema Open on Friday.

The top seed was clinical in taking his chances in a tight opening set and was resilient in defence in the second to complete a 7-6(8), 6-4 victory at the ATP 250 event in Den Bosch. In his on-court interview, Medvedev said:

“I didn’t do so good in the beginning of the first set, but finally we both managed to find our rhythm, there were great points. It was a matter of a few points where sometimes I served well or got a bit lucky at 8-8 [a net cord in the first-set tie-break], and that’s tennis sometimes. So today I was better in the deciding moments and sometimes luck was on my side, and that made a big difference.”

He further added:

“I don’t have many points to defend on grass and I have some to win, so hopefully I can play well, starting here. Every round is points and the higher you get, the more you need to step up."