Daniil Medvedev through to Halle Open quarter-finals after overcoming spirited Laslo Djere in three-set thriller

Daniil Medvedev progressed to the quarter-finals of the Halle Open after a hard-fought 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 win over Laslo Djere.

The world No. 3 made heavy weather of his contest against the spirited Serb, contesting a third set after losing the second-set tie-break 7-5.

Medvedev raced into a 3-0 lead after holding his serve in the first game, and broke Djere at the third opportunity in the second. He then won on his serve again after staving off two break points.

Djere impressed on his serve to reduce the arrears at 3-1, while Medvedev took no prisoners with a hold to love and moved 4-1 ahead.

This was the first of three consecutive holds to love, as Djere reduced the arrears before Medvedev went 5-2 ahead.

The Serb needed a service hold to prolong the set and he did just that to stave off a break point from Medvedev, but the Russian then won on his serve to end the first set after 39 minutes.

Djere showed glimpses of his undoubted potential in the first set, and began the second in electric fashion by moving into a 3-0 lead.

After winning the first on his serve, the man ranked 65th in the world impressed with his return play too and broke Medvedev for the first time in the match.

Djere extended his lead when Medvedev netted a tired-looking return, and momentum looked to be shifting in the underdog’s favour.

However, the signs were looking ominous when Medvedev won his next service game and broke Djere again, both times to love, reducing the arrears at 3-2.

The precision in Djere’s shots suddenly went awry and he succumbed to another defeat to love in the next game, as the quality of Medvedev’s serve came to the fore.

Djere looked like he was free-falling out of the match, but incredibly a fourth consecutive held service game to love fell his way after forcing Medvedev to play a wide return, and he led again at 4-3.

The Russian held the next game, but Djere continued to impress on his serve and moved within touching distance of restoring parity in the contest.

It was Djere’s returning game that let him down though, allowing Medvedev to draw level again after another unforced error.

A sixth consecutive service game was held when Medvedev played another backhand return wide, which meant he needed to hold to keep himself in the set.

He did just that to take the second set into a tie-break, and Djere showed his resolve to prevail 7-5 after recovering from 4-1 down to draw level.

The thrilling tie-break resulted in seven breaks of serve but, crucially, four of those were in favour of Djere.

Two more unforced errors from Medvedev ensured this match would go into a third set, and the favourite was on the ropes.

He secured the first game of the third set with an ace – his fourth of the match – and won the second to break Djere after recovering from 30-0 down.

Medvedev won the next game to love to move 3-0 ahead before a hold from Djere kept him in the contest.

The 2021 US Open champion secured a comfortable hold to move within two games of victory, but agonisingly squandered three break points to allow Djere to reduce the deficit again at 4-2.

The Russian was visibly frustrated after losing his serve for the first time in the set, as Djere converted on his fourth break point.

Medvedev claimed a service hold to move 5-3 ahead, and successfully broke Djere again in the ninth game to end a hard-fought contest in his favour.

Medvedev will now face Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-finals on Friday after the Spaniard beat American Brandon Nakashima in straight sets, winning 7-5 7-6(2) earlier on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Jan-Lennard Struff overcame Russia’s Roman Safiullin in straight sets, winning 6-1 7-6 and will play Alexander Bublik in the last eight on Thursday.