Daniil Medvedev has become the winner of the Almaty Open for the second year in a row. In the final, the Russian came back after losing the first set to defeat Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili 6:7 (6:8), 6:1, 6:3. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
This is the first successful title defense of Medvedev's career. The first set was the most evenly contested. The players reached a tiebreak, where Basilashvili proved stronger – 8:6. However, after that Medvedev seized the initiative: in the second set he conceded only one game to his opponent, and in the deciding set he made the necessary break and closed out the match.
For Medvedev, the title in Almaty became the 25th of his career and the fourth of the current season. The victory also lifted him to fifth place in the ATP Race to Turin for a spot at the ATP Finals.
Before the current Almaty Open, Medvedev had never won the same tournament two years in a row. Last season he defeated Corentin Moutet in Almaty 7:5, 4:6, 6:3, ending a streak of 882 days without a title.
At the current tournament, the Russian began his campaign from the second round. He successively defeated Sho Shimabukuro 6:2, 6:1, Terence Atmane 6:4, 6:4, and in the semifinal he got past Alexander Bublik, who retired after the first set due to a knee injury.
For Basilashvili, this week became his best at ATP level in recent years. The Georgian started the Almaty Open in qualifying and won six matches in a row to reach the final.
In the main draw he defeated Marin Cilic, Facundo Diaz Acosta, Adrian Mannarino and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The final in Almaty was the first at ATP level since 2022 for the former world No. 16 and guaranteed him a return to the top 100 of the rankings.