Daniil Medvedev fights off de Alex de Minaur to win first ATP Tour title in Sydney

Reuters

Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev fought off tigerish Australian youngster Alex de Minaur to win his first ATP Tour title at the Sydney International on Saturday.

Medvedev completed an all-conquering week to fight back from losing the opening set to extinguish de Minaur, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.

It was 21-year-old Medvedev's seventh win this week, giving him solid preparation for next week's Australian Open in Melbourne where he faces another Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round.

The 84th-ranked Medvedev also came back from a set down to upset Italian fourth seed Fabio Fognini 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the tournament.

Eighteen-year-old de Minaur beat Frenchman Benoit Paire to reach the final.

He also upset Milos Raonic to reach the Brisbane International semi-finals last week before losing to American Ryan Harrison.