Daniil Medvedev claimed his first title of the season at the Los Cabos Open, which premiered this new tennis complex in 2022 and had the luxury of crowning the number one in the world.
The Russian tennis player did not drop a set all week at the Mexican ATP 250 to win his 14th tour-level trophy. In the final he beat Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-0 and finally, Medvedev recalled a celebration not seen since last year’s US Open.
“Each match was very good, but the final is always special. In the final you play against the best player this week, so it’s always a high-level game and I’m very happy that I managed to show a good level, some good shots in such an important game.”
Entering the match, Medvedev was on a five-match losing streak in finals dating back to last year’s Paris Masters. But he showed no nervousness, converting six of his 10 break points in a victory in one hour and 23 minutes.
“The good thing about tennis is that in a week you can turn your season around. Coming here I had lost five finals in a row. That’s not nice, I want to do better. You never know if it’s going to happen or not, and for sure before this final I was a bit nervous, a bit more than usual. But now I am very happy (to have won one).”
The crucial moment came at the end of the first set. Medvedev had two set points on his serve at 5-4, 40/15, but gave up his break. In the first point of the next game, he scraped his hand on the court trying to hit a ball and needed physio treatment because he had drawn blood.
“In the first set we broke each other twice to be 5-5 and he actually came back from 40/15 and I didn’t play bad in that game at 5-4. So he knew he just had to stay there. Actually, the bleeding helped, I think, a little bit, so I was able to control my nerves a little bit more. Since then I managed to play well and today was enough”.
But rather than panic, Medvedev went back to work and won the last eight games of the match to complete his first week of competition since Mallorca in June.
“It wasn’t easy. Cam is an amazing player so it was really intense. When you play against Cam, you know you have to fight for every point.”
Norrie won his first ATP Tour title last year in Los Cabos and came just one match away from retaining his trophy.
“I fought as hard as I could, but Daniil was too good. Well done to you and your team, you definitely deserved it this week,” said the Briton, currently ranked 12th in the ATP, but last April he was the 10 in the world.
Daniil reached 250 wins on the ATP Tour and is one more away from 200 on hard courts, a surface on which he has won twelve of the thirteen titles he currently has on the circuit.
“Someone told me a few days ago that it was close to this figure. It’s nice to have gotten it. It is a milestone in my career”, assured the 26-year-old right-hander. “The truth is that I want more victories, and hopefully more will come.”
Blumberg-Kecmanovic, a dream debut
William Blumberg and Miomir Kecmanovic will never forget their team debut on the ATP Tour. The American-Serbian duo defeated fourth-seeded Raven Klaasen and Marcelo Melo 6-0, 6-1 to win the Los Cabos Open title.
“I’m happy to do it with Miomir. We’ve been friends for a long time. I’ve known him since we were 14, 15 years old, we were juniors. It’s good to get back together,” Blumberg said.
Blumberg has been Klaasen and Melo’s kryptonite in recent weeks. The former University of North Carolina star teamed with Steve Johnson to defeat the veterans 6-4, 7-5 in the Newport final last July.
Unseeded Blumberg and Kecmanovic saved all five break points they faced and converted six of their 12 chances to lift the trophy after 53 minutes. It was an impressive run for the debutants, who needed a Match Tie-Break in the first three rounds. They defeated top seeds Santiago González and Andrés Molteni in the semifinals.
Blumberg is now a three-time ATP Tour doubles champion, with his previous two titles coming in Newport. Kecmanovic is a first-time tour-level doubles champion, having started the week with a doubles record of 9-23.
“It feels amazing to win a doubles title,” Kecmanovic said. “Me [realmente no juego mucho [dobles]. I’m happy I was able to capitalize on the opportunity.”
While this was their professional debut as a duo, Blumberg and Kecmanovic played a junior doubles event together in 2015. They lost in straight sets in the first round.
