Tennis-Medvedev battles back from brink to beat Norrie in Vienna

Oct 29 (Reuters) – Daniil Medvedev punched and slapped the court in frustration before producing a remarkable escape to beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 4-6 6-3 7-6(1) at the Vienna Open on Thursday and reach his 100th tour-level quarter-final.

• The former world number one extended his winning streak to six matches after successfully defending his title at last week’s Almaty Open.

• After dropping the opening set, the third seed fought back to force a decider and twice recovered from a break down in the third, saving a match point when Norrie served for victory before dominating the tiebreak 7-1.

• Medvedev’s frustrations spilled over early in the final set when he repeatedly bent down and struck the court after falling 0-2 behind, but the Russian regrouped to complete the win and keep alive his chances of securing a spot at the season-ending ATP Finals.

• Medvedev will next face French qualifier Adrian Mannarino, who stunned eighth seed Jakub Mensik in the round of 16.

• Carlos Alcaraz also later earned his 60th tour-level quarter-final appearance with a 6-1 7-6(11) victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round of the Vienna Open, saving four set points in a dramatic second-set tiebreak.

(Reporting by Paras J. Haji in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Christian Radnedge)