Daniil Medvedev remained undefeated since the Australian Open, rallying for a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over 12th-seeded German Alexander Zverev in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday in Indian Wells, Calif.
The fifth-seeded Russian ran his winning streak to 17 matches, a stretch that includes tournament championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Doha, Qatar.
Medvedev prevailed despite turning his right ankle early in the second set when he fell to the court. He resumed action after a medical timeout.
“When I twisted (my ankle), I thought I was going to stand up just fine,” Medvedev said. “But then the pain started growing very fast, so I was like, ‘That is not a good sign.’ I felt like I didn’t break it, but I felt that one of the ligaments was a little injured, so I thought I wasn’t going to be able to play.
“It was one of the first times in my life that the physio had taped my ankle, so I decided to give it a try. What was surprising was it was much easier to run than walk. So when I was walking I was limping and then I was running fine.
“When the adrenaline goes down, it will be pretty painful, so I am going to probably do a scan to see what it is and if I can continue to play.”
Medvedev came through at key moments in the match, saving 15 of the 17 break points he faced.
Assuming the ankle holds up, Medvedev will play a quarterfinal match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The 23rd-seeded Spaniard eliminated Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-4.
Two seeded U.S. players advanced to the quarterfinals with straight-set wins. No. 4 Taylor Fritz defeated Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-3, and No. 14 Frances Tiafoe downed qualifier Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-4, 6-4.
Tenth-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain overpowered sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-2, 6-4.
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain opposed Great Britain’s Jack Draper in nighttime action. Two other matches were on the night slate: No. 8 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada vs. No. 17 Tommy Paul of the United States, and No. 11 Jannik Sinner of Italy vs. Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka.
–Field Level Media
