Medvedev defends Almaty: 25th career title

Daniil Medvedev won the Almaty Open for the second year in a row, beating Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-3 in the final in an hour and 53 minutes. It is the 25th title of his career and the first time he has defended a title he won the year before: in his three previous finals as defending champion he had always lost.

The first set went to Basilashvili, 34, world No. 128, who came to Almaty through qualifying. In the main draw he had beaten Marin Cilic, Facundo Díaz Acosta, Adrian Mannarino and, in the semifinal, Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. From the second set on, the match changed. Medvedev finished with 20 unforced errors, half of the Georgian's 40, and Basilashvili saved two match points before giving way on the third.

The Russian, top seed and world No. 5, had reached the final without finishing his semifinal: Alexander Bublik retired after losing the first set 6-3. In Almaty Medvedev has now won eight matches in a row. Last year he beat Corentin Moutet 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the final.

It is his fourth title of the season, after Brisbane, Dubai and Hangzhou. With this result Medvedev moves up to fifth in the Race to the ATP Finals in Turin, overtaking Flavio Cobolli, and takes his hard-court wins in 2026 to 38: no one on tour has collected more this year.