What a story for Hamad Međedović! The Serbian tennis player reached the round of 16 of a Masters for the first time in his career after managing to defeat Argentine Mariano Navone with a major comeback, 4:6, 6:3, 6:4, opening a new chapter for our “white” sport.
Until this point, Hamad had reached the third round of a Masters, but never the last 16, and for this new comeback in the capital of Italy, he had to work for over three hours.
He brought the crowd to its feet, thereby helping himself gain the opportunity to attempt to reach the quarterfinals of this prestigious tournament at the Foro Italico against 20-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce, whom he has never played before.
It didn’t all look great. On the contrary. For a set and a half, Međedović accumulated unforced errors, reaching an incredible mark of 30. What was worrying was that he was losing points on his first serve, his forehand wasn’t working, and Navone had pulled him into a running game in which he couldn’t find his way.
He suffered a break in the fifth game for 3:2, but the Argentine representative practically gifted him a re-break in the next game with two double faults at 30:30.
Then, at 3:3, he saved three consecutive break points, but it was clear that everything was hanging by a thread and that Navone had imposed a pace of running that resulted in another loss of service in the ninth game and a quick confirmation by the opponent for 6:4.
One of the decisive moments in the match was the break for 3:1 in the second set when he missed two chances, but secured another which he managed to convert.
By the middle of this period, Navone already had more unforced errors than in the entire first set.
The match was on the line; Međedović survived the seventh game and, after 15 minutes, four break points, and seven deuces, managed to reach 5:2 and equalize in sets.
By that point, the crowd had already embraced the show happening on the court, and Međedović, powered precisely by the stands, managed to secure a break in the first game of the deciding set.
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Source: Telegraf.rs, Photo: Printscreen X @GameSetAndTalk