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Rafael Nadal returns a forehand in his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France on day 5 of the Rolex Paris Masters, part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 held at the at AccorHotels Arena on November 01, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
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Rafael Nadal returns a forehand in his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France on day 5 of the Rolex Paris Masters, part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 held at the at AccorHotels Arena on November 01, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Daniil Medvedev enters the Rolex Paris Masters 2020 on the back of a mixed bag of results. He has not played to his potential so far over the past few weeks but still feels he has a good chance this week in Paris. At the same time, he picked Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev as his favorites to win the ATP Masters 1000 title.
Medvedev’s reasons for picking both those players as the top-2 favorites are quite different. Medvedev believes that every time Nadal, Roger Federer, or Novak Djokovic end up playing a tournament, they become favorites. Medvedev, thus, named Nadal as his top pick for the title.
“I think that when a member of the big 3 is present, he is favorite. Rafa is still favorite,” Medvedev said, ahead of his first match in Paris.
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Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros, Paris, France – Spain’s Rafael Nadal in action during the final against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Why Daniil Medvedev picked Andrey Rublev along with Rafael Nadal
Rublev’s results this season say it all. No player on the ATP Tour has more titles than Rublev this year. He won his fifth title of 2020 a couple of days ago in Vienna and is the world number eight. Medvedev feels his fellow Russian will win the title if Nadal does not.
“After Rublev won 5 titles in this season, he is the 2nd favorite,” Medvedev said further. “After Tsitsipas, me, Zverev, or Berrettini could win.”
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Tennis – ATP 500 – Erste Bank Open – Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria – October 31, 2020 Russia’s Andrey Rublev celebrates after winning his semi final match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Stefanos Tsitsipas was technically one of the favorites, given his second seeding. However, the Greek lost to Ugo Humbert in his Round of 32 tie after a thrilling three-setter. Matteo Berrettini joined Tsitsipas on his way out after losing 7-6(3), 6-7(0), 7-5 to American Marcos Giron.
Can Medvedev challenge Nadal and Rublev in Paris?
Medvedev opens his campaign against Kevin Anderson, who defeated him less than a week ago in Vienna. Alexander Zverev plays his Round of 32 match against Miomir Kecmanovic.
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Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in action during his second round match against Reilly Opelka of the U.S. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov
Meanwhile, Nadal returns to Paris fresh after winning a record-equaling Grand Slam in the city a few weeks ago. He opens his campaign against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
One of the stories of the year has been Rublev. He has won 19 of his last 20 matches and is on a 10-match winning streak. Rublev will now play Radu Albot in his first match.
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While Medvedev picked Nadal and Rublev as the two favorites, only one of them can make the final this Sunday as they are in the same half of the draw.
Read more – “I Don’t Scream in the Locker Room”: Rafael Nadal Dismisses Accusation of Intimidating His Opponents
