Another comfortable victory at Miami Open has taken Daniil Medvedev close to regaining world No 1 spot in tennis rankings.
The US Open champion secured a 6-3 6-4 win over Spain’s Pedro Martinez to reach the last 16 of the men’s draw.
The Russian ended Novak Djokovic’s rule at the apex of tennis rankings but found his reign to be short-lived after a shock defeat to Gael Monfils at Indian Wells.
The World No. 2 looked every bit like a four-time ATP Masters 1000 winner on the court as he brushed past Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.
Medvedev’s solid serving performance was again the foundation against Martinez. He dropped just four points behind his delivery in the opening set, which he clinched with a break in the eighth game despite some spirited resistance from the Spaniard.
An early break in the second set signaled an emphatic win for Medvedev but Martinez immediately hit back to square things at 2-2, breaking the 2021 US Open champion for the first time in this tournament.
Medvedev remained focused despite the setback, powering his way to another break for 4-3 before reeling off eight points in a row on serve to extend his Head2Head series lead over Martinez to 2-0.
The Russian won 79 percent (31/39) of his points behind his first delivery in the match overall, firing 14 aces on his way to an 84-minute victory.
With Daniil Medvedev close to regaining world No 1 spot, American Jenson Brooksby will have to use every bit of skill he used to rally from 0-4 down in the third set to upset 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut when the pair meet in the next round.
