Western and Southern Open 2019: Daniil Medvedev Dominates David Goffin in Final
August 18, 2019
Daniil Medvedev continued his fine form by seeing off David Goffin in straight sets to win the 2019 Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Sunday:
The ninth seed, who came from a set down to beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, took a deserved victory to claim his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 title.
The Russian needed a tiebreak to take the first set and then broke early in the second on his way to clinching the biggest title of his career.
Medvedev started the final strongly and made Goffin work hard in his opening service game:
The Russian was showing no signs of nerves in only his second Masters final and broke his opponent in his second service game to move into a 3-1 lead:
Yet the Belgian 16th seed produced a strong response to level the match. He conjured up two fine backhand winners down the line to break back and then saved two break points to hold and level the match at 4-4.
The first set went all the way to the tiebreak with Medvedev emerging as the stronger player. Goffin lost all five of his service points and handed his opponent the first set with a double-fault:
Tennis writer Matt Zemek offered his view on the Russian:
Medvedev struck early in the second set, breaking Goffin in his first service game to close in on the title, and this time the Russian did not allow his opponent a way back into the set.
The ninth seed was dominant on serve, holding to love to move 4-2 ahead and then producing another solid service game to move to the brink of victory.
Medvedev did show a few signs of nerves as he served for the match. Goffin managed to force two break points, but the Russian pulled out three consecutive aces to end the Belgian's hopes:
Live Tennis @livetennisDaniil #Medvedev wins the Cincinnati title! What a way to finish! The Russian is in some trouble at 15-40, but he sends down a 123mph second serve (!), followed by three consecutive aces to close out the 7-6 6-4 victory. A stunning effort. First Masters 1000 title! https://t.co/ajhYdwwXXd
The win is a deserved reward for Medvedev, who has been in sparkling form in recent weeks. The result also means that he will rise to No. 5 in the rankings on Monday.