ST PETERSBURG: Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev recovered from a shaky start to begin his defense of the St Petersburg Open title with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Richard Gasquet on Wednesday.

Medvedev hit 22 aces to secure his first win since losing to Dominic Thiem in the US Open semi-finals, having lost in the first round in Hamburg and at the French Open.

Medvedev set up a second-round match with Reilly Opelka, who earned a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over qualifier Nino Serdarusic.

Stan Wawrinka booked his spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Evgeny Donskoy, a wild-card entry who has now competed in the St. Petersburg tournament 12 times without ever getting past the second round.

Wawrinka could next meet second-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who needed just over an hour to wrap up his 6-2, 6-3 first-round win over lucky loser Viktor Troicki.

Shapovalov was coming off a second-round loss at the French Open. He takes on qualifier Ilya Ivashka in the second round for a quarter-final spot against Wawrinka.

Ugo Humbert will play third-seeded Andrey Rublev in the second round after Humbert defeated qualifier Pavel Kotov 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2020