Daniil Medvedev against Flavio Cobolli
Heading into the Open, few, if any, would have guessed that Carlos Alcaraz would be eliminated before Daniil Medvedev. It was the Russian, rather than the Spaniard, who was more likely to be eliminated early. The “hard court specialist” had arrived after losing back-to-back first-round matches on hard courts in Montreal and Cincinnati. There was speculation about his serve failures, about injuries, about post-Olympic exhaustion. But here he was, having lost a set in two matches, while Alcaraz was heading home.
Medvedev still hasn’t answered all the questions, especially those about his serve. He double-faulted 10 times in three sets in the second round and hit just 47 percent of his first serves. That would give any third-round opponent at a Grand Slam, including Flavio Cobolli, an opening.
Medvedev has never played or trained with the Italian. All he can verify is the eye test.
“I’ve seen him play. I think he has really explosive tennis,” Medvedev said.
He’s right about that. Cobolli, 22 and ranked No. 31 in the world, plays with an ease of arm that seems new to the tour. It took him a while to master his weapons. Surprisingly for an Italian, that happened on hard courts this summer. He reached the final of the Citi Open, beat Felix Auger Aliassime in Montreal and beat Tommy Paul in Cincinnati.
Medvedev has the defensive and disruptive qualities to thwart Cobolli. But if his serve is consistently poor, the task will be much more difficult. Winner: Medvedev
