Serving clinic fuels Tsitsipas to milestone victory over Medvedev in Doha
Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday and will play the winner of the match between Hungarian Fabian Marozsan and Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, in the next round
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Doha 2026
Stefanos Tsitsipas secured his first tour-level quarterfinal in ten months by defeating fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.
The 27-year-old Greek, currently ranked world No 33, produced a performance that signaled a potential return to the elite form that once saw him ranked as high as world No 3. In a rivalry historically dominated by the Russian, Tsitsipas displayed tactical clarity to notch just his second victory over a top 20 opponent since the end of 2024.
Entering the contest on a three-match losing streak against Medvedev, during which he had failed to win a single set, Tsitsipas relied on his primary weapons to dismantle the world No 11. He struck 18 forehand winners and forced 23 combined errors from Medvedev, while showing supreme efficiency at the net by winning 17 of 19 approach points.
For Medvedev, the defeat continues a difficult stretch since his Australian Open campaign. The former world No 1 has struggled for momentum in 2026, recording a 1-3 record in his last four matches following early exits to Learner Tien in Melbourne and Ugo Humbert in Rotterdam. Despite a clinical opening-round win over Juncheng Shang, the Russian had no answer for the precision of Tsitsipas’s serve. The Greek landed 80% of his first serves and did not face a single break point throughout the 80-minute match.
“Well, a lot of grit today, Tsitsipas said on court. A lot of high intensity. Today I showed a lot of consistency. Just a willingness to stay out there and fight point by point. I was really glad with the way my tennis came together towards the end. I’m really happy with my serving. That gave me a lot of points and I was able to build a lot of confidence and a lot of authority starting with such good serves. I want kids to see that modern tennis, one handed backhand tennis is still out there. I want more kids to start playing with a single handed backhand. I feel like it’s dying off a bit.”
The victory moves Tsitsipas into his first Doha quarterfinal since 2018. He will next the fifth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev.
