Russian Daniil Medvedev clinched the Rolex Paris Masters title on Sunday, beating German Alexander Zverev in three sets. Though the German took the opening set, the Russian stormed back to win the next two to lift his maiden Paris Masters title.

Starting as equals on current form, both Zverev and Medvedev opened proceedings with comfortable service game wins. With both recording a first-serve percentage of 100, there wasn’t much to separate the two in the early exchanges in the first two games of the opening set.

At 3-3 in the seventh game, Medvedev got two break points off the German but failed to capitalize on either of them. The German opened a 40-0 lead in the twelfth game on Medvedev’s serve and eventually broke him to take the opening set 7-5.

Attacking the German’s serve, Medvedev got himself four more break-points in the third game of the second set. However, he squandered them all as Zverev managed to hold.

Alexander Zverev took the opening set before Daniil Medvedev stormed back

The Russian finally broke the German in the ninth game of the second set, opening a 5-4 lead. He breezed through the next game to win the second set 6-4. With the momentum firmly with him, Medvedev broke the German again in the opening game of the deciding set.

The German pressed Medvedev’s serve in the second game, but the latter managed to serve it out to extend his lead to 2-0. The Russian broke Zverev for the second time in the following game, stretching his lead in the final set to a commanding 3-0.

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It was all Medvedev thereafter, as he played out a clinical service game to take his final set lead to 4-0.

How Daniil Medvedev grew from strength to strength

Though Zverev managed to open his account in the next game, the Russian pulled away to a 5-1 lead. 

The Russian broke the German for the third time in the final set to clinch his first ATP title in France.

Zverev lead Medvedev in head-to-head record going into final

Seeded third at the Masters, Medvedev went into the final on the back of dominant wins in the quarters and the semi-final. After sweeping past Argentine Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, the Russian survived a determined effort by Canadian Milos Raonic to send him packing.

Currently at Number 3 in the ATP singles rankings, Zverev, too, got the better of two tough rivals on the way to the final.

The German beat veteran Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the last-eight tie before scoring an upset win over top-seed Rafael Nadal to set up a title showdown with the Russian.

While the finalists were evenly matched going into the title clash, Zverev held a clear edge over Medvedev in terms of head-to-head record. Before the final, they had played each other six times, with the German holding a commanding 6-1 lead.

They last met at a round-robin tie in the Nitto ATP Tour Finals last year, with Zverev winning in straight sets. However, despite an unflattering head-to-head record against the German, Medvedev, in his own words, had been on an extended run of form since the US Open and Cincinnati Masters, which he carried to Bercy.

Also, the manner in which he saw off two tough days in two days seemed to suggest that he was determined for a title run.

However, with two titles already in a Covid-curtailed ATP season and a run of wins against the Russian in previous encounters, Zverev had a slight edge going into the final.