Medvedev shines early against Dimitrov, but falls apart later to lose the Indian Wells match

Top seed Daniil Medvedev is out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after throwing away a 6-4 4-1 lead in the match to lose 6-4 4-6 3-6.

Daniil Medvedev entered this match in spectacular form literally bulldozing his way past opponents in the past month. The Russian continued that trend early against Dimitrov by breaking him and taking a 2-0 lead. Dimitrov settled a bit after that even forcing a break point but the Russian held firm. From there it was a rather smooth going for Medvedev who was winning his service games with ease.

He won 16 of 20 first service points en route to the 6-4 1st set finish which positioned him in a great spot. Medvedev lost only two matches in the past several months when winning the first having a 43-2 record in those situations. His play continued to be great well into the 2nd set as the Russian was simply cruising. He was too good for Dimitrov who did not play bad at all.

The Russian had only 6 unforced errors in 72 minutes of action which had to stop at some point but the way it did is unbelievable. He would hit 6 more in the next two games giving away a 4-1 lead to make it 4-4. Boosted by that sudden switch of momentum, Dimitrov started playing the best he played all day and that was enough to win two more games to clinch the set with 6-4.

That 4-game blitzkrieg by Dimitrov lasted 15 minutes and it saw him turn a 1-4 2nd set deficit to a 6-4 win. Medvedev's game fell apart completely at the start of the 2nd set with Dimitrov breaking him again to take a 3-0 lead at the start of the 2nd set. It was an 8-0 run by Dimitrov who broke Medvedev in 5 of the last 6 games on return at that time. The Bulgarian finished it off the majestic comeback win with 6-3.