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Fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain beat top seed and world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Mallorca Championships on Thursday. The 34-year-old Spaniard will take on Antoine Bellier of Switzerland in the semifinals on Friday.
Medvedev could not offer much resistance to Bautista Agut in Thursday’s match as his trophyless run in 2022 continues.
On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Bautista Agut got off to a great start by breaking Medvedev to love
Bautista Agut held his serve in the first game of the match and then went on to break Medvedev to love in the subsequent game. The Spaniard started to dictate terms in most rallies from the baseline with his forehand.
Daniil Medvedev, on the other hand, looked somewhat jaded and struggled to hold his own in the baseline exchanges. He looked especially vulnerable on the forehand wing and committed a few unforced errors.
#2 Medvedev continued to struggle on his serve
Daniil Medvedev saved two break points in the fourth game but managed to hold his serve for the first time in the match. He then created his first and only break point opportunity on Bautista Agut's serve, but failed to take advantage.
Bautista Agut continued to move Medvedev from side to side with his angular forehand and the Russian struggled to deal with the former’s groundstrokes directed at his forehand wing. Medvedev's poor first serve ratio also helped the Spaniard put pressure on his serve repeatedly. Serving at 5-3, Bautista Agut held his nerve to take the opening set.
#3 Baustista Agut walked away with the second set as Medvedev squandered a good start
Daniil Medvedev held his serve in the first game of the second set, but Bautista Agut succeeded in winning the next three games. The Spaniard then broke Medvedev again to race to a 5-2 lead.
Bautista Agut proceeded to hold his serve and win the match. Medvedev’s first serve ratio stood at 61% at the end of the match against the Spaniard’s 78%. Moreover, the Russian could only win 56% of the points off his first serve and was broken three times in the match.
