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Daniil Medvedev began his title defense at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships with a straight-sets win over Alexander Shevchenko in the opening round.
The top-seeded Russian faced Shevchenko on February 27 and battled past the Kazakh 6-3, 7-5, in a contest that lasted an hour and 28 minutes. Shevchenko put up a strong fight but was undone by a resolute Medvedev, who broke him five times throughout the match.
After his victory, Medvedev commented on his unique record of not being able to defend any of his 20 ATP tour titles. The Russian has tasted success at every level of the ATP tour, including triumphs at the US Open and the ATP Finals, but has been unable to defend his victories.
In his on-court interview, Medvedev joked that not being able to defend a title does not add pressure on him, but he would like to defend a title at least once before he retires. On his chances of breaking that drought at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, the 28-year-old said that it will not be easy as there are a lot of fierce competitors in the main draw who will make his job harder.
"I wanna think that it doesn't add any pressure, but, to be honest, I really am already, not, 20, let's say, and I want to defend the title somewhere at least once in my career, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do it. But, the time is passing, you know? And, so I try. I try here this week. It's not gonna be easy. It's a lot of great players, but, I hope I can do it," Daniil Medvedev said.
Daniil Medvedev to face Lorenzo Sonego in the 2R at the Dubai Tennis Championships
Daniil Medvedev will be up against Lorenzo Sonego in the second round of the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships on February 28. Sonego will come into the contest after a hard-fought three-set victory, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1, over Indian wildcard Sumit Nagal in the first round in Dubai.
Medvedev has faced Sonego twice on the ATP tour and won both contests. The Russian first triumphed over the Italian at the 2023 Adelaide International and again at the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters.
Daniil Medvedev took nearly a month off after his campaign at the 2024 Australian Open where he reached the final. The World No. 4 saw his two-set lead evaporate in the title contest in Melbourne and eventually lost the title to Jannik Sinner.
