Daniil Medvedev overcame an inspired Alexander Zverev, a rolled ankle, and, most of all, the “freakin’ court”

HIGHLIGHTS: Medvedev edges Zverev in Indian Wells

“Streaks end,” Daniil Medvedev said after he had won his 14th straight match in Dubai two weeks ago.

Is he sure about that? If Medvedev’s current win streak didn’t end on Tuesday in Indian Wells, it’s hard to imagine when it will. To say that his fourth-round encounter with Alexander Zverev was a struggle would be a gross understatement. As far as Medvedev was concerned, everything, from the court to the balls to the opponent to the chair umpire to his own body, was against him. And yet, after more than three hours, he emerged with the most unlikely—and comical—of his 17 consecutive wins, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5.

First, there was his opponent. Zverev played his best tennis since returning to the tour in January. Whenever he’s firing his forehand down the line, rather than just looping it, you know he’s going to be dangerous. Today was one of those days. Zverev came out rifling that shot, and he remained the better player through the first two sets. Zverev hit more winners, committed fewer errors, attacked the net more often, and earned 17 break points. For much of the second set, he was one good swing, or one mistake from Medvedev, away from winning the match.

Even more irritating to Medvedev, though, was the court. It’s safe to say that he doesn’t consider the famously slow hard surface at Indian Wells to be his personal tennis paradise.

“Freakin’ disgrace to the sport,” Medvedev said after losing the first set. “This freakin’ court, man. And they call it a hard court. What a shame to call this awful court, a hard court.”

Medvedev then announced to chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein that he was going to walk as slowly as he wanted to the bathroom, because

the surface he was walking on was so slow.

“I know what is hard court,” he told Lichtenstein, “I’m a specialist at hard court. This is not hard court.”

Was it a coincidence that, a few minutes later, Medvedev rolled his ankle and ended up face down on that same awful non-hard court? Up a rare break point, he had been wrong-footed by a Zverev backhand. When Zverev crossed the net and tried to help, Medvedev warned him away. Finally, he had the ankle taped, and gradually found his footing again.

“It was much easier to run than to walk,” Medvedev said. “So when I was walking I was limping, but then I was running fine. I can understand how frustrating it is for the opponent.”

Frustration was the word of the day for Zverev, especially in the second set. He could win every type of point—except the one that counted. Ten times in that set alone he reached break point, and 10 times Medvedev saved them. He saved them with aces, service winners, backhand winners, drop volleys, and, most painfully for Zverev, a crosscourt forehand pass hit on the full stretch.

That pattern repeated itself in the second-set tiebreaker. At 1-1, Zverev came forward for what looked to be a putaway overhead. The problem was, he didn’t quite put it away. Instead, the ball stayed within the reach of Medvedev, who reached up and hit perhaps the rarest shot in tennis, an overhead passing shot, from 10 feet behind the baseline.

“It was much easier to run than to walk,” Medvedev said. “So when I was walking I was limping, but then I was running fine. I can understand how frustrating it is for the opponent.”

Frustration was the word of the day for Zverev, especially in the second set. He could win every type of point—except the one that counted. Ten times in that set alone he reached break point, and 10 times Medvedev saved them. He saved them with aces, service winners, backhand winners, drop volleys, and, most painfully for Zverev, a crosscourt forehand pass hit on the full stretch.

That pattern repeated itself in the second-set tiebreaker. At 1-1, Zverev came forward for what looked to be a putaway overhead. The problem was, he didn’t quite put it away. Instead, the ball stayed within the reach of Medvedev, who reached up and hit perhaps the rarest shot in tennis, an overhead passing shot, from 10 feet behind the baseline.

It was the most memorable swing of the day, and also the most crucial. Medvedev had the mini-break he needed to escape with the set, and ultimately the match.

“The shot was crazy,” Medvedev said, “In a way, pure lucky. I saw that I have the opportunity to smash it, so I went full power. I’m probably going to miss eight, nine out of 10, but this one was good.”

Credit Zverev for not going away in the third set, even when he fell behind by a break. He hung in and broke back at 4-5, only to endure a final bit of frustration when he double faulted to go back down 5-6. When it was over, the German shook his head as he walked off, but he also held it high as he waved to the appreciative audience. He played Top 5 tennis today, for the first time all year.

Still, it’s Medvedev who can’t lose at the moment. Today he was injured, irrational, sarcastic, and facing a motivated and mostly superior opponent: Yet he still won. Streaks end, Medvedev knows, but this one, against all odds, is still going. If it lasts much longer, he might even come to like that awful freakin’ court in Indian Wells.