Daniil Medvedev went down fighting in Rotterdam. The Russian star arrived for the ABM AMRO Open as a title favorite.  The second seed kicked off his singles campaign in Rotterdam with a triumphant victory over Swiss legend Stan Wawrinka. For his second-round contest, the task seemed comparatively easy at first as he drew up against Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci. However, the young talent shocked Meddy as he proceeded to register his first top-10 victory against the 2023 champion in a three-set thriller 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3. His exit sparked online chatter where fans speculated if this was the beginning of Meddy’s retirement road. But, the former US Open champion strongly disagrees.

Despite showcasing resistance and holding his ground for the majority of the two-hour, 55-minute clash, fans took to their social media to discuss whether Medvedev’s performance drop could mean he is nearing retirement. For the uninitiated, the former World No. 1 has yet to lift a title since 2023. The Russian star quickly acknowledged the comments and recorded a fitting response for the netizens.

Meddy clarified that he was here to stay and it was only a matter of time before he found his footing on the tour once again. He wrote on X: “I don’t think that’s gonna happen soon. I like tennis, I’m still winning a lot of money, so I’m gonna continue playing until I can do it. Then, if I drop out of top 100, then I don’t know… but this is probably not gonna happen. I’m pretty sure I can come back strong enough. The question is, when? Tomorrow? Next month? In 12 months? This, I don’t know.”

As for Bellucci, the Italian recorded a rollercoaster of a showdown in Rotterdam. Moments after the former World No. 1 flashed a steely look at him after the latter fired a body shot towards Meddy, he reserved a few words to sum up his performance on Wednesday, February 5.

Mattia Bellucci opens up about “big result” against Daniil Medvedev in Rotterdam

Italian rising star Mattia Bellucci fired on all cylinders against second seed Daniil Medvedev at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam. An excellent show of mental resilience helped him prevail over the Russian trailblazer. He even recovered from a squandering match point in the second set tiebreaker before eventually drawing the curtains on Meddy’s campaign.

During a post-match interview, Bellucci addressed the crowd saying, “I really tried to enjoy every minute of it. I tried to have fun on court and be myself as much as possible. I hit the serve and volley a bit and hit the underarm serve. I wanted to be myself and I saw him far back. I really think it is something I used to move him a little bit from there. I don’t want to be disrespectful.”

“I felt that I had to enjoy every moment of this match. This is a big result so I will enjoy it,” he added. The Italian sensation’s triumph means he now moves up 16 places to No. 76 in the ATP rankings.

Next up, the 23-year-old will square off against the winner of sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor for a place in the last four on Friday, February 7.