Mérida comes close to an upset against Medvedev

Dani Mérida continues to grow and gain experience within the ATP circuit. It is not easy to face the best in the world after such a dizzying jump in level as the one made by the Madrid native in 2026, but until the end of the season, we are seeing an ultra-competitive Dani, matching the giants' proposals head-to-head, with the freedom to create, dominate, and perform on any surface.

We saw another glimpse of this today morning, in his debut at the ATP Vienna 2026 against one of the fittest names on the ATP circuit. On the other side of the net, a Daniil Medvedev with an almost immaculate record over the last month and a half: champion in Hangzhou and Almaty, semifinalist in Beijing and Shanghai. After an extra day of rest for lifting a title last Sunday, Mérida entered the match with a clear game plan on how to play against such a champion: fearlessly, making him run, demanding an extra effort that nearly materialized into a surprise.

This is how Mérida fell to Medvedev: he was very close to taking the first set

With an initial break and a sense of confusion in the Russian's game, the player from Alcalá started the match, promising a magnificent morning for our tennis. However, it didn't take long for the Russian to recover, taking advantage of some errors from Mérida to reposition himself and land at the right moment to avoid losing a set that had already become quite complicated.

In the tiebreak of the first set, the same story repeated: an initial minibreak for Dani, a 4-2 lead which made us optimistic... and the octopus reset, always with one life left, with a new tentacle to cling to the court to ask for an extra ball. He reluctantly took the first set, costing him blood, sweat, and tears, and thus put one foot in the second round: Mérida was unable to mentally recover from that, leaving the second set as a mere formality for a final score of 7-6 and 6-1. Thus, Dani leaves Vienna with the feeling of being competitive against the best, despite it not translating into victories. Next up, the exciting Masters 1000 in Paris.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Mérida se queda a las puertas de la sorpresa ante Medvedev