Medvedev saves match point vs Norrie to reach 100th tour quarter-final

Daniil Medvedev came within one point of losing in the second round of the Erste Bank Open on Thursday. He then won the match and reached the 100th tour-level quarter-final of his career. The third seed trailed Cameron Norrie 5-3 in the final set and faced match point at 40-30 on the Briton's serve, but came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) after 2 hours, 31 minutes on Centre Court in Vienna.

From match point down to a one-sided tie-break

Medvedev was the favourite. He led their head-to-head 5-1 and arrived in Austria straight after winning the title in Almaty last Sunday. Norrie, though, came in playing well after a 6-4, 6-1 first-round win over Francisco Cerúndolo. He took the opening set and stayed in front for most of the decider.

At 5-3, 40-30 on his own serve, Norrie was one point from the biggest win of his week. Medvedev saved the match point, broke back to level the set and forced a tie-break. That tie-break was completely one-sided. The Russian won it seven points to one and moved to 6-1 against Norrie.

The win extends Medvedev's winning streak to six matches, and it was another reminder of how hard he is to beat in tight finishes. Those 100 quarter-finals span a career that includes the 2021 US Open title and a spell as World No. 1, and he now has the chance to keep his strong autumn going.

What it means for Turin

The result matters most in the race to Turin. Before Thursday, Tennis Majors calculated that a win over Norrie would lift Medvedev to 3,710 points in the PIF ATP Live Race. That would put him back into fifth place, at least until Flavio Cobolli's evening match against Matteo Berrettini. According to the same calculation, Medvedev and Cobolli are the only players who can secure their places this week, and both would need the Vienna title to reach the 4,015-point mark that guarantees qualification.

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Medvedev's next opponent is Adrian Mannarino. The French qualifier has already caused one of the upsets of the week, beating eighth seed Jakub Menšík 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday. He reached that match after recovering from a 0-6 first set to beat Ignacio Buse 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the first round.

Paul needs only 48 minutes

Tommy Paul had a much easier day on the Glaubandich Court. The seventh seed beat Luciano Darderi 6-1, 6-1 in 48 minutes, a day after his 7-5, 6-2 win over Andrey Rublev. Paul is further back in the Race than Medvedev, with Tennis Majors listing him on 2,675 points before Thursday, so he needs a deep run in Vienna and in Paris.

The main matches are still to come on Thursday evening. Carlos Alcaraz plays Nikoloz Basilashvili, Cobolli plays Berrettini for a quarter-final against Alex de Minaur, and top seed Alexander Zverev plays Tallon Griekspoor. According to Tennis Majors, a Zverev win would make him World No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday.