Stat of the Day: Daniil Medvedev battles back for 300th win of career in Madrid

Daniil Medvedev has unlocked a major milestone: 300 career wins.

The former No. 1 did it the hard way, battling back from a set down—as well as from 4-2 down in the third set—to defeat countryman Alexander Shevchenko in the third round of Madrid, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

He’s the 19th active men’s player to reach 300 career wins, the sixth man born in 1990 or later to achieve the feat, and one of just three men currently under 30 to reach or surpass that milestone, along with Alexander Zverev (26) and Dominic Thiem (29).

ACTIVE MEN’S PLAYERS WITH 300+ CAREER WINS (tour-level):
1,068: Rafael Nadal
1,048: Novak Djokovic
725: Andy Murray
598: Richard Gasquet
582: Marin Cilic
559: Fernando Verdasco
552: Stan Wawrinka
525: Gael Monfils
504: Feliciano Lopez
484: John Isner
431: Kei Nishikori
407: Fabio Fognini
386: Roberto Bautista Agut
383: Grigor Dimitrov [born in 1991]
372: Milos Raonic [born in 1990]
351: Alexander Zverev [born in 1997]
334: Dominic Thiem [born in 1993]
324: David Goffin [born in 1990]
300: Daniil Medvedev [born in 1996]

An ultra-aggressive Shevchenko came out swinging in the first set, storming out to a 4-0 lead. After the two traded holds, Medvedev finally started building some momentum, closing the gap from 5-1 to 5-4, but Shevchenko swiftly served out the set in the next game.

Medvedev had found his rhythm by then, though, taking second set, 6-1. But there were several more twists to come, with Shevchenko jumping out a 2-0 lead in the third before Medvedev evened it up, 2-2—Shevchenko then broke again and had triple break point for a double break with Medvedev serving at 2-4, 0-40.

But the former No. 1 dug out a hold, then broke in the next game, then broke one last time at 5-all before serving it out.

“Well, I feel like I played pretty well second and third set, and maybe the end of the first,” Medvedev said afterwards. “The thing about clay, usually it’s tough for me to start matches for whatever reason, I need a lot of time to get used to everything that’s happening on the court. And third set could be a little bit better in crucial moments, or maybe a lot better. But finally I won, so that counts also.”

And on his 22-year-old, 96th-ranked opponent? “He plays well—he’s young, so I’m sure he’s going to go up the rankings, especially if he plays like he did this tournament,” Medvedev said. “It’s always like this, he’s still young, so he has a lot of time to go up.

“I had practiced with him before, I know that he can play very good.”