Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Medvedev eases into next round
SECOND seed Daniil Medvedev enjoyed a comfortable passage into the second round of the French Open with his opponent clearly struggling with an injury.
The US Open champion beat Facundo Bagnis of Argentina, whose calf was heavily strapped and who at one point collapsed while serving, 6-2 6-2 6-2.
Bagnis could lose some of his prize money if tournament bosses deem he played while injured, but the 32-year-old insisted: “I think I tried to give my best.”
Medvedev, barred from playing at Wimbledon due to the ban on Russian players, could still become world number one afterwards due to the ATP’s decision to strip the tournament of its ranking points, as defending champion Novak Djokovic would lose the 2,000 points he would otherwise be defending.
“Very strange,” he admitted, “I need to be honest, but yeah, as I said last time, I’d be really happy to play Wimbledon. I love Wimbledon. I love playing on grass. I will play on grass after Roland Garros.
“But if I cannot, I mean, (I’m) just going to prepare for next tournaments, and, you know, just follow what’s happening there. (If) there are no points, I become number one, well, great for me.
“If there are points, I cannot become number one, I’m going to be gutted. It is what it is. I cannot change some decisions, both about ATP and Wimbledon.”
Denis Shapovalov was a surprise first-round casualty early on day three. The Canadian world number 15, who beat Rafael Nadal – albeit an injured version – on clay just a couple of weeks ago, lost 6-3 6-1 7-6 (7-4) to Danish teenager Holger Rune.
“I didn’t really show up today” said Shapovalov.