DANIIL Medvedev shook off a mid-match ankle injury to reach the Indian Wells quarterfinals with a gutsy 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5 win over Germany’s Alexander Zverev on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), extending his winning streak to 17 matches.
It was an impressive effort from the fifth-seeded Russian whose tournament appeared over when he crashed to the court in the second set with what looked to be a serious injury.
Medvedev was able to continue and advance to the last eight for the first time, but he said he expected to feel considerable pain and would likely have a scan to assess the damage.
“Now when the adrenaline goes down the body cools down it’s going to be pretty painful and I’m going to probably do a scan to see what it is and if I can continue to play,” said Medvedev, winner of three straight events in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai.
Down a set and on serve at 3-2 in the second, Medvedev turned over his ankle attempting to make a return and winced in pain as the trainers, Zverev and the tournament supervisor all rushed to his side as he clutched his right leg.
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Once back in his chair, Medvedev had the ankle heavily taped and returned to the court hobbling, but determinedly forcing the second set to another tiebreak.
This time, the 27-year-old Russian prevailed 7-5 to send the contest to a third set.
“When I twisted it, I thought I’m going to stand up just fine and then the pain started growing very fast and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s not a good sign,’” Medvedev said.
