Written By : Imran Razib
Daniil Medvedev lived up to his top-seed billing by overcoming Reilly Opelka in straight sets in the National Bank Open final.
World number two Medvedev prevailed 6-4 6-3 in Toronto on Sunday as he became the first Russian to win the ATP tournament since Marat Safin in 2000.
Medvedev now holds four of the nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, having also previously come out on top in Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris.
He saved all four break points faced against unseeded Opelka, who stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals, and needed just 85 minutes to complete the job.
Reflecting on his latest tour triumph, Medvedev said: “I could not have dreamt of this at one point.
“With Novak [Djokovic] and Rafael [Nadal] playing, it seemed like an untouchable achievement. Now I have four wins in five finals, which is a good score. I am just happy.
“Playing Canada and Cincinnati, the goal is to win as many matches as possible. I was able to do it two years ago and I will try and do it again.”
Opelka was competing in his maiden final at this level and started strongly, racing 40-0 ahead in the fourth game with some powerful hitting.
However, the 23-year-old – the first American to reach the final since Mardy Fish in 2011 – could not break his opponent as Medvedev recovered with some impressive serving to take the game.
Medvedev earned the first break in the following game and comfortably held to take the first set.
The Russian forced Opelka into errors in the second set and reeled off nine points in a row en route to breaking his opponent in the third game.
It was plain sailing from that point on as two-time beaten grand slam finalist Medvedev eased over the line to add another trophy to his collection.
