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Medvedev let slip two set points in the first set, but recovered well to move into the second round at the indoor hard-court ATP 500 in Rotterdam in his first appearance since he won the title in 2023.

“When you have some confidence, you win some sets which you should lose. When you don’t have the confidence, you lose some sets which you should win," Medvedev said when asked of his reaction to losing the first set. "I was like ‘I’m not playing so bad at the moment’, so if I continued to push and try to play better it could work out, and I am happy that it did. Hopefully I can play better and better in the next matches.

“He played good, but it’s Stan, he always plays good. Of course, he is not at his peak when he was winning Grand Slams. I never played him when he was at this level, and it's a pity because I would love it as a challenge. I am pretty sure there would be some matches where he would chop me, and somewhere I would fight. Stan is also an amazing guy. In my opinion, he is one of the humblest, nicest guys on Tour.”

Wawrinka, the 2015 titleist in Rotterdam, competed admirably but ultimately ran out of gas as Medvedev cruised across the line. The 28 year-old will next face Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci. If Medvedev can go on to seal the title this week, it will be his first since the 2023 ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. It would also be the first time that the former World No. 1 has won the same event twice, after his previous 20 titles have all come at different tournaments.

Having overcome Medvedev in each of their two previous meetings, Wawrinka was aware of the task ahead and his game plan was evident from the outset. Not only did the 39 year-old engage in the gruelling rallies, but he went after Medvedev with his sustained aggression.

Wawrinka fended off a 29-shot set point, which doubled as the longest rally of the opener, by asserting his dominance and finishing the point at the forecourt. He used this pattern of play to trouble Medvedev for much of the 69-minute first set, during which the Swiss player won 12 out of 17 points when at the net.

Medvedev returned from the toilet break he took at the end of the first set as a completely different player. The No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings upped his own level of aggression, which began to gradually draw more errors from Wawrinka and drastically reduce his winner count, which fell from 16 to 5 between the two sets.

As the encounter wore on, Wawrinka further struggled to rediscover the range that was firing winners from all angles of the court in the first set. Medvedev finished with a flourish in the final set, in which he did not face a single break point.