Second-ranked Daniil Medvedev lost his comeback match after a six-week injury layoff, beaten 6-2, 7-6 (5) by Richard Gasquet in the second round at the Geneva Open. (More Tennis News)
Medvedev, who underwent hernia surgery last month, cautioned Sunday he was often a slow starter on clay courts. So it proved in his first match on the surface this season, in the last tournament before the French Open.
Medvedev double-faulted for the seventh time on Gasquet's first match point, as the Frenchman ende𝔍d a 36-match losing streak💟 against opponents ranked No. 1 or 2 after beating Roger Federer 17 years ago at Monte Carlo.
“It's tough. I don't play my best tennis on c🧸lay courts," Medvedev said o𒐪n Tuesday.
"I kind of need to be i♎n the zone, ꦫwhich I was not today.”
Unlike Medvedev,ඣ Gasquet has won titles on clay in his career and⭕ the 35-year-old Frenchman frustrated his top-seeded Russian opponent in an assured first set.
🥀Medvedev had three double-faults when his serve was broken to open the second set, and he broke a racket on the court in the nex🐠t game. He leveled at 3-3 and clinched the next game at love with a second-service ace.
In the tiebreaker, Medvedev twice recovered from being a mini-break down before his serve faltered 🤡again.
“I think more days of practice and (I) should be ready for Roland Garros becausᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe physically, even right now, my body feels good,” he said.
Gasquet's will face Kamil Majchrzak in the quarterfinals after the Polish player beat qualifier Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-3. Cecchinato ha♕d beaten Dominic Thiem, the two-time French Open runnerไ-up, on Monday.
In♑ a first-round match, fifth-seeded 𝄹Nikoloz Basilashvili advanced when Facundo Bagnis retired after losing the first set.
