{"id":4194,"date":"2021-02-19T12:40:06","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T12:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/?p=4194"},"modified":"2021-02-19T12:40:06","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T12:40:06","slug":"expected-points-feb-19-daniil-medvedev-defies-another-unfriendly-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/19\/expected-points-feb-19-daniil-medvedev-defies-another-unfriendly-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Expected Points, Feb. 19: Daniil Medvedev Defies Another Unfriendly Crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Expected Points<\/strong>, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up today: The fast-rising Russian extends his array of win streaks, Sabalenka and Mertens win a farewell title, and Naomi Osaka looks ahead to yet another match against a player ranked outside of the top ten. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you prefer reading to listening, scroll down for a transcript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"castos-iframe-player\" src=\"https:\/\/601b036c283f30-50244448.castos.com\/player\/363611\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/expected-points\/id1552064903\">iTunes<\/a>, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"450\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/expected-points\/id1552064903\"> <\/p><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first number is 173,598, the most recent census count of the Greek Australian population in Melbourne. At times during the men\u2019s semi-final today between <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=StefanosTsitsipas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=DaniilMedvedev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniil Medvedev<\/a>, it sounded like all of them were right there in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=RodLaver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rod Laver<\/a> Arena. Tsitsipas, whose heroics brought him back from a two-set deficit to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=RafaelNadal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rafael Nadal<\/a> in the quarters, couldn\u2019t make it happen this time for the home-away-from-home crowd. Medvedev, the 25-year-old Russian fourth seed, advanced in straight sets, hitting more than twice as many winners as unforced errors, winning 50 of 57 first-serve points, and extending his increasingly impressive array of streaks. It\u2019s 20 match victories in a row, and 12 straight against the top ten. Medvedev has shown that he can thrive against a hostile crowd, whether it\u2019s Greeks in Australia or disapproving New Yorkers. He\u2019ll face another crowd favorite on Sunday, when he tries to beat eight-time Australian Open champ <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=NovakDjokovic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Novak Djokovic<\/a> for the fourth time in eight career meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our second number is 5. Five is the number of doubles titles won in the last two years by the team of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=ArynaSabalenka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=EliseMertens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elise Mertens<\/a>, who won their second major today against the third seeded Czech team of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=KaterinaSiniakova\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Katerina Siniakova<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=BarboraKrejcikova\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Barbora Krejcikova<\/a>. The title moves Sabalenka and Mertens into the top two spots on the doubles ranking table, but it is a bit bittersweet for fans of the power-hitting duo. Sabalenka, in particular, is quickly becoming one of the best singles players in the game, a top-tenner who ranks third on the Tennis Abstract Elo list. They\u2019ll shift their focus to singles and no longer pair up at slams. At their best, the now-top-ranked team is unstoppable, with straight set wins in their last three rounds in Melbourne, including the loss of just five games in the final. Two of their titles together came at the Sunshine double of Indian Wells and Miami in 2019, tournaments that often coax occasional doubles players to compete in multiple events. Fingers crossed that, whenever the American tournaments are next able to be staged, Sabalenka and Mertens will attempt to defend their crowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today&#8217;s third and final number is 24, the number of consecutive matches <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=NaomiOsaka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Naomi Osaka<\/a> has played without facing a top-ten opponent. Tomorrow\u2019s final against 24<sup>th<\/sup>-ranked <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=JenniferBrady\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jennifer Brady<\/a> will make it 25, and in this span, which dates back to early January of last year, she has also withdrawn from two matches against lower-ranked players. This isn\u2019t a knock on the Japanese star\u2014aside from the walkovers, she has lost only twice, and she hasn\u2019t entered any second-tier events. It\u2019s just the way the draws have shaken out. It is also a reminder that the official rankings, calculated using a modified formula during the pandemic, are slower than usual to catch up with reality. Osaka\u2019s last six months include Thursday\u2019s win versus <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=SerenaWilliams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Serena Williams<\/a> and two over <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=VictoriaAzarenka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Victoria Azarenka<\/a>, and even if Brady wins the Melbourne title, she will still be stuck at number 12 in the rankings. Remarkably, Osaka\u2019s string of sub-top-ten opponents is far from the record\u2014in 2018, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=CarolineWozniacki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Caroline Wozniacki<\/a> played 37 matches in a row against opponents ranked 11 and below, and excluding one retirement, you have to go back to 2019 to find <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=SimonaHalep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Simona Halep<\/a>\u2019s last match against a fellow top-tenner. Fortunately the women\u2019s tour is deep enough that we\u2019ve gotten plenty of great matches anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport. Up today: The fast-rising Russian extends his array of win streaks, Sabalenka and Mertens win a farewell title, and Naomi Osaka looks ahead to yet another match against a player ranked outside of the top &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/19\/expected-points-feb-19-daniil-medvedev-defies-another-unfriendly-crowd\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Expected Points, Feb. 19: Daniil Medvedev Defies Another Unfriendly Crowd<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expected-points-podcast"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}