Daniil Medvedev off to a dream start in Miami as he aims to justify top seeding

ATP Tour

Kevin Palmer
March 27, 2021

Daniil Medvedev enjoyed a dream start in his first match as world No 2 by breezing past Yen-Hsun Lu to reach the third round at the Miami Open.

The Russian, who is competing as the top seed at an ATP Masters 100 for the first time, wrapped up a 6-2 6-2 success inside just 56 minutes.

He will next face Singapore Open champion Alexei Popyrin.

“I am happy that I managed to keep my nerve, play solid and not make so many mistakes,” said Medvedev in an on-court interview, according to the ATP Tour website.

“Everything worked well and I am looking forward to the next round.”

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1375540738297982977?s=20

Australian Popyrin advanced to the third round at a Masters 1000 event for the first time with a 6-4 6-2 win against 30th seed Reilly Opelka.

Britain’s Cameron Norrie and Australia’s James Duckworth each sprung surprises on Friday by knocking out seeded opposition.

Norrie came from a 5-3 down to defeat ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 7-5, while Duckworth eased past Belgian eighth seed David Goffin 6-3 6-1.

American Taylor Fritz awaits Norrie after he defeated compatriot Marcos Giron 6-2 6-2.

Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut was awarded a walkover win after South African Lloyd Harris withdrew due to wrist injury.

Spaniard Agut will return to action in the last 32 against German Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat Ricardas Berankis 6-3 6-4.

Georgia player Nikoloz Basilashvili, seeded 27th, lost 6-3 4-6 6-4 to Swede Mikael Ymer, while Felix Auger-Aliassime knocked out Pierre-Hughes Herbert, winning 6-4 6-4.

Elsewhere, Jannik Sinner beat French wildcard Hugo Gaston 6-2 6-2, 14th seed Karen Khachanov overcame Yannick Hanfmann 6-3 6-2, and 16th seed Dusan Lajovic saw off qualifier Ernesto Escobedo 6-2 6-3.

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Daniil Medvedev