Daniil Medvedev reaches quarterfinals of Dubai Championships
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev didn’t have time to think about how to return Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s blazing serves at the the Dubai Championships on Wednesday.
Medvedev, ranked No. 6, still reached the quarterfinals after a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the 21-year-old Frenchman.
The Russian player was asked about facing serves exceeding 143 mph.
“You don’t have any time so it’s pure reflexes and sometimes it makes life even easier because as I say, you don’t think much,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “If you don’t return it, you’re not even disappointed. There were some second serves that I missed, and I was disappointed. You just try to do your best, and I managed pretty well today.”
Medvedev, the Dubai champion in 2023, broke Mpetshi Perricard’s serve once in each set. The Frenchman committed twice as many unforced errors — 44 — as winners and didn’t create any break point opportunities.
Up next for Medvedev is Tallon Griekspoor, who advanced by beating defending champion Ugo Humbert 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Marin Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion who eliminated second-seeded Alex de Minaur in the first round, moved into the quarterfinals by beating Alexei Popyrin 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The 36-year-old Croat will face Felix Auger-Aliassime for a spot in the last four.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova has withdrawn from next month’s tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami because of a back injury that has kept her out of action since November.
The world No. 16, a surprise champion at the All England Club last year, sustained the injury during the Tour’s Asian swing of tournaments and appeared hampered by it at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, where she reached the semifinals.
The 29-year-old Czech skipped the Australian Open in January, saying she needed more time for her injury to heal.
Austria’s Julia Grabher will take Krejcikova’s place in the main draw at the BNP Paribas Open, which begins March 5.
The Miami Open kicks off March 18.
Reuters contributed to this report.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Third-seeded Andrey Rublev followed up his Qatar Open title with a first-round exit at the Dubai Championships, losing to qualifier Quentin Halys 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Tuesday.
For the 77th-ranked Halys, who next faces Roberto Bautista Agut, it was his first victory over a top-10 opponent.
“At the moment, it’s a bit hard to comprehend,” the 28-year-old Frenchman said. “Mentally, it was a very difficult match. Andrey is maybe tired from his week in Doha. Beating a top-10 (opponent) is a significant moment in your career. I’m happy it happened today.”
The ninth-ranked Rublev had won the Dubai title in 2022. On Saturday, he beat Jack Draper to win the Qatar Open.
Also Tuesday, top-seeded Daniil Medvedev beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6 (4) and will next face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Second-seeded Alex de Minaur lost to 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Nuno Borges eliminated eighth-seeded Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-1.
Other winners Tuesday included fifth-seeded Ugo Humbert, Matteo Berrettini, Felix Auger-Aliassime and qualifier Christopher O’Connell.
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Daniil Medvedev suggests how to combat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s big serve after beating him in Dubai
Daniil Medvedev has had a tricky time in 2025 so far, having started off with a shock Australian Open second round exit.
Medvedev may be worried about his future, with the former world number one now sixth in the ATP rankings.
Russian star Medvedev is now taking on the Dubai Tennis Championships, his fourth tournament since that Melbourne nightmare.
He lost to American teenager Learner Tien at the Australian Open, and followed that up with a Rotterdam Open round of 16 loss to Mattia Bellucci.
Medvedev then fell in the semi-finals and the quarter-finals of the Open 13 in Marseille and Qatar Open respectively, and now finds himself in the quarter-finals in Dubai.
The Dubai Tennis Championships top seed overcame Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 32, before knocking out the big-hitting Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the round of 16.
And Medvedev has now shared insight into the latter victory, having been asked on court if he found it interesting to have a tactical challenge against such an aggressive, attacking player.
READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev pinpoints one area of his game he’s been working to improve in training since shock Australian Open defeat
“It’s not easy,” replied Medvedev, as quoted by The Tennis Letter. “I feel like tactically it’s easy in a way because the most important is to be strong on your serve. So you make sure you get to the tiebreak. I was very good on my serve today so that helped.
“Like this you can start to put pressure on his serve step by step. In general happy with my level. I think I had more opportunities to break. Happy it worked out.”
Medvedev on beating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in Dubai
“Did you find it interesting to have that tactical challenge against such an aggressive attacking player?”
Daniil: It’s not easy. I feel like tactically it’s easy in a way because the most important is to be strong on your…
Medvedev progressed with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Mpetshi Perricard in the round of 16, in what was their first meeting on the ATP Tour.
And somewhat surprisingly it was the former who outshone the latter in their service games, with six aces compared to three respectively, and one double fault compared to six.
READ MORE: The three players who have the best chance of forming the next Big Three alongside Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Despite being just 21 years old, the Frenchman has proven himself to be one of the most lethal servers in recent times.
The youngster sits at the very top of the pile when it comes to serve leaders on the ATP Tour with a serve rating of 302.1, with Medvedev (265.6) not even among the top 50.
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NEWS
| Rank | Player | Serve rating | % 1st serve | % 1st serve points won | % 2nd serve points won | % service games won | Avg aces/match | Avg double faults/match |
| 1 | Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | 302.1 | 64.8% | 79.7% | 53.8% | 90.0% | 19.3 | 5.5 |
| 2 | Matteo Berrettini | 299.2 | 68.9% | 77.6% | 53.5% | 90.2% | 10.6 | 1.6 |
| 3 | Alexander Zverev | 297.5 | 70.1% | 76.9% | 54.5% | 89.2% | 9.2 | 2.4 |
| 4 | Jannik Sinner | 296.5 | 61.1% | 79.8% | 58.5% | 91.4% | 7.6 | 1.9 |
| 5 | Taylor Fritz | 295.3 | 62.7% | 79.1% | 55.7% | 89.2% | 10.4 | 1.8 |
