Daniil Medvedev celebrated becoming a father for the first time earlier this month with his second ATP title of the year in beating Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in yesterday’s final in Vienna.
The 26-year-old former world number one dropped his first set of the week as Shapovalov produced some eye-catching tennis by firing down 21 winners.
However, Medvedev - whose wife Daria gave birth to a baby girl on October 14 - did not buckle and stormed back to level the match with some terrific shots of his own.
The third set was a procession as the Russian broke Shapovalov several times and eventually took the title with his sixth match point.
“I am really happy,” said Medvedev, who had reached the quarter-finals on the only other occasion he played in Vienna. “This match was the best of the week because Denis was really playing unreal until probably 4-3 in the second set.
“He dropped his level by maybe two percent and I was able to use it.
“This is one of the best victories when you know your opponent is on top of you, but you try and stay there and do what you can.”
Medvedev’s 15th career title sets him up nicely for the final two targets for him this season.
First up is the Paris Masters, where he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic last year, which get underway on Monday and the ATP Finals in Turin on November 13-20. Medvedev won that event in 2020.
“I like to play indoor hard courts at the end of the season,” said Medvedev.
“I feel that I do a great job with my team not to arrive burnt out.
“I am looking forward to the last two tournaments of the year which are really important and I usually play well.”
For Shapovalov it his second loss in a final this month after he was beaten by Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in Seoul and the defeat leaves him with just the one title, in Stockholm in 2019.

Auger-Aliassime wins Basel for third October title in row
Felix Auger-Aliassime won his third title in as many weeks yesterday as he defeated Holger Rune 6-3, 7-5 in the ATP final in Basel. The ninth-ranked Canadian climbed to provisional sixth in the season points race to the eight-man ATP Finals in Turin from November 13.
“It’s been an amazing week,” said Auger-Aliassime after the match. “Once again in the final, not getting broken all week… (It’s been) a long year, a long stretch of wins, and it’s not over. So hopefully I can keep going, but right now I’m feeling all the good emotions that come with winning a tournament. It’s amazing.”
Auger-Aliassime added the Swiss trophy to titles in Florence and Antwerp, with his win streak now at 13 in a row. Stockholm champion Rune had won his last nine.
Rune saved two match points and the Dane also drew an unsportsmanlike conduct warning after loudly complaining about what he said was a blinking light in an on-court advert which he said distracted him in the second set.
Having now leapfrogged Andrey Rublev, the Canadian’s red-hot form has put him a strong position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.
With seventh the last position to guarantee qualification for the season finale, Auger-Aliassime is now 725 points clear of eighth-placed Taylor Fritz as the player’s head to this week’s Rolex Paris Masters.
Auger-Aliassime is the third player to win an ATP Tour title without dropping a service game in 2022.
Taylor Fritz and Nick Kyrgios have also achieved that feat with their triumphs in Eastbourne and Washington, respectively.


Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime celebrates after winning the final against Denmark’s Holger Rune at the Swiss Indoors in Basel yesterday. (Reuters)