Medjedovic Loses to Nakashima in Lyon After Two Tiebreaks
The Serbian lost 6-7, 7-6, 2-6 to the American in the first round of the ATP 250 event, and Nakashima next faces Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet.
The last ball in Lyon landed well after midnight, with the match already 167 minutes old. That was the end of it: Hamad Medjedovic was out of the tournament, and American Brandon Nakashima moved into the second round after three sets and two tiebreaks.
The Serbian lost 6-7, 7-6, 2-6. Set by set from the winner’s side, that reads 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2. The Lyon event is part of the ATP 250 series and carries a prize fund of 757,320 euros. Medjedovic, who is from Novi Pazar, went in ranked 76th in the world, while Nakashima was ranked 17th and seeded fifth, a gap of 59 places.
How did Medjedovic’s match in Lyon unfold?
The first two sets were a procession of service games without a single break. The only two break points belonged to Medjedovic, in the tenth game of the first set, and he did not convert them. The set went to a tiebreak, which Nakashima won 7-4.
The second set put everything back to square one. Medjedovic leveled the match the same way, with a tiebreak and the same 7-4 score, this time in his favor. TV Arena sport judges that he was the better player in the moments that demanded precision, but that it cost him the energy and focus for what followed.
The decision came in the third set. Nakashima broke serve twice, went up 4-1 and closed out the match without a twist, 6-2.
What do the numbers from the match show?
- score: 6-7, 7-6, 2-6 from Medjedovic’s perspective
- duration: 167 minutes, or more than two hours, as RTS also reports
- Nakashima: 41 winners and 27 aces
- head-to-head: 2-1 in the American’s favor
- breaks: none in the first two sets, two for Nakashima in the third
In the first two sets, then, the only break chance went to Medjedovic and went unused, while in the third Nakashima broke serve twice and decided the match.
How long is the run of poor results?
The loss in Lyon extends a run of poor results at this stage of the season. Of his last eight matches, Medjedovic has won only one, and that was in a Serbia shirt in the Davis Cup.
Who does Nakashima play next?
In the second round Nakashima plays Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet, who beat Italian Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 in the first round.
