"Daniil Medvedev is slowly entering his Sharapova era" - Tennis fans rejoice as Russian downs Alexander Zverev to reach Italian Open QF

Tennis fans were buzzing with excitement over Daniil Medvedev's recent victory against Alexander Zverev, which propelled the Russian to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Italian Open.

Despite his previous three unsuccessful attempts at securing a victory at the Italian Open, Medvedev has now advanced to the last-eight stage of this year's Italian ATP 1000 tournament.

Medvedev defeated Emil Ruusuvuori and Bernabe Zapata Miralles in earlier rounds. In the fourth round, he locked horns with Zverev for the third time this season and emerged victorious in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(3).

Medvedev's quarterfinal opponent will be Yannick Hanfmann, a qualifier who caused a major upset on Tuesday, May 16, by defeating Andrey Rublev in straight sets, 6-2 7-6(3).

Tennis fans worldwide were elated with Daniil Medvedev's performance on clay, despite it not being his preferred surface. One fan even likened Medvedev's success to that of Maria Sharapova who excelled on clay despite initially struggling on the surface.

"Medvedev slowly entering his Sharapova era," the fan tweeted.

One fan expressed their admiration for Medvedev's recent consistent victories on clay and believes the Russian has a strong likelihood of winning the upcoming quarterfinal match.

"Its clay season and @DaniilMedwed keeps winning! What is his record starting with the winning streak, about 35-4? Something incredible like that. Has a good chance tomorrow also," they tweeted.

Here are a few more reactions from fans:

"I’m happy with my level throughout the whole match" - Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev at the 2023 Internazionali BNL D'Italia

After beating Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev gave his thoughts on the match. The Russian acknowledged that although he made a few errors during the match, he was pleased with his overall performance.

“He started to play a little bit better for sure,” Medvedev said. “We had some long games, and I should have played better on this game at 4-3… I should have done better from 40/0.”

“I made a few easy errors, but that’s tennis and I knew that I had to continue. It was not an easy moment, [later I had a] set point to save. I’m happy with my level throughout the whole match, except this game and I’m really looking forward to the next match,” he added.

With the victory, Daniil Medvedev extended his winning record against Alexander Zverev to 9-6. Not only that, but the Russian also surpassed Carlos Alcaraz to claim the top spot in the live rankings for the Race to the ATP Finals. With an impressive 3,480 points, he has edged out the Spaniard's 3,455 points.