MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev has prepared well for the 2023 ATP Masters tournament in Toronto and is capable of putting in a decent showing in Canada, President of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) Shamil Tarpishchev told TASS on Friday.
On Wednesday, the 2nd-seeded Medvedev reached the quarterfinals of the tournament with a straight sets win, 6-4; 6-4, over 16th-seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.
"Daniil has been preparing for this tournament and is capable of performing well and going far," Tarpishchev said. "However, his draw has him going against some unfavorable opponents which isn’t so good, because he will see them in the early rounds [of the tournament]."
"A lot will depend on Daniil himself, but the most important thing in any case is to stay focused for the US Open," the RTF chief added.
Medvedev is now set to face 18th-ranked Alex de Minaur of Australia in the quarterfinals of the 2023 ATP Masters tournament in Toronto on August 11. The Russian is playing under a neutral status at international tennis tournaments.
De Minaur earlier cleared 3rd round stage of the tournament with 7:6, 4:6, 6:1 beating Taylor Fritz of the United States. It was the first ever time for the Australian tennis player to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP 1000 series.
"It feels great to finally break that barrier," De Minaur was quoted as saying by the tournament’s official website about reaching the last eight at a Masters 1000 event for the first time.
"It's just a never-say-die attitude. It doesn't matter what the score is. I'm always going to fight till the end. Being able to compete and stay positive got me into the match. I knew even if I lost that set I'd be in the match and playing a lot better," De Minaur said ahead of his clash with Russia's Medvedev.
Medvedev, 27, is currently third in the ATP Rankings List. In 2022, Medvedev was the number one ranked tennis player in the world for 16 weeks. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He has won five of those 20 titles this year. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup for the Russian national team as well as the ATP Cup.
The men’s draw of the 2023 Canadian Open championships is being held in Toronto between August 7 and 13 and it is the 133rd edition of the men's event - a mandatory Masters 1000 event on the 2023 ATP Tour calendar.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also cancelling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.