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Stat of the Day: Daniil Medvedev gets first career win over a No. 5 with victory over Tsitsipas

Going into their Rome semifinal, he had beaten every Top 40 ranking EXCEPT for No. 5—he was 0-7 against them.

By John Berkok
MATCH POINT: D.Medvedev def. S.Tsitsipas; Rome SF0:57

Daniil Medvedev has reached the biggest clay-court final of his career, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday night, 7-5, 7-5, to move through to the title match at the Masters 1000 event in Rome.

Medvedev’s victory over Tsitsipas also gave him another, quirkier milestone—it was his first career win in eight tries against No. 5s.

He had been 0-7 in his career against No. 5s going in.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV CAREER RECORD VS NO. 5s (now 1-7):

  • l. to No. 5 Zverev in 2018 Miami 2nd Rd, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5)
  • l. to No. 5 Federer in 2019 Miami 4th Rd, 6-4, 6-2
  • l. to No. 5 Thiem in 2019 Barcelona F, 6-4, 6-0
  • l. to No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2021 Roland Garros QFs, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-5
  • l. to No. 5 Nadal in 2022 Australian Open F, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
  • l. to No. 5 Nadal in 2022 Acapulco SFs, 6-3, 6-3
  • l. to No. 5 Djokovic in 2023 Adelaide-1 SFs, 6-3, 6-4
  • d. No. 5 Tsitsipas in 2023 Rome SFs, 7-5, 7-5
ROME, ITALY - MAY 20: Daniil Medvedev celebrates after winning the Men's Singles semi-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on day thirteen of Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2023 at Foro Italico on May 20, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
© Getty Images

And there’s more: No. 5 was the only Top 10 ranking Medvedev had never beaten, meaning he now has a full set of Top 10 wins.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV’S CAREER TOP 10 WINS (34):

  • No. 1s (5): Djokovic (2019 Monte Carlo), Djokovic (2019 Cincinnati), Djokovic (2020 ATP Finals), Djokovic (2021 US Open), Djokovic (2023 Dubai)
  • No. 2s (1): Nadal (2020 ATP Finals)
  • No. 3s (3): Wawrinka (2017 Wimbledon), Thiem (2020 ATP Finals), Zverev (2021 ATP Finals)
  • No. 4s (3): Thiem (2019 Canada), Zverev (2021 Paris), Tsitsipas (2022 Australian Open)
  • No. 5s (1): Tsitsipas (2023 Rome)
  • No. 6s (3): Zverev (2019 Shanghai), Tsitsipas (2021 Australian Open), Rublev (2023 Dubai)
  • No. 7s (6): Nishikori (2019 Barcelona), Tsitsipas (2019 Shanghai), Zverev (2020 Paris), Zverev (2020 ATP Finals), Zverev (2021 ATP Cup), Berrettini (2022 ATP Cup)
  • No. 8s (5): Tsitsipas (2019 Monte Carlo), Khachanov (2019 Canada), Rublev (2021 Australian Open), Ruud (2021 ATP Finals), Auger-Aliassime (2023 Rotterdam)
  • No. 9s (6): Schwartzman (2020 Paris), Schwartzman (2020 ATP Finals), Schwartzman (2021 ATP Cup), Hurkacz (2021 ATP Finals), Auger-Aliassime (2022 Australian Open), Auger-Aliassime (2023 Doha)
  • No. 10s (1): Berrettini (2021 ATP Cup)

And there’s even more: No. 5 was actually the only Top 40 ranking Medvedev hadn’t beaten yet, meaning he now has a full set of Top 40 wins. The only one he’s missing in the Top 50 is No. 44.