Thirty-two wins and counting for Daniil Medvedev in 2023.
Not even the move to his less-favoured clay has stopped the 27-year-old from racking up victories on the ATP Tour. Following his quarter-final run in Monte-Carlo, Medvedev made a rock-solid start to his Mutua Madrid Open campaign on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori.
Medvedev stayed patient against the World No. 164 Vavassori, notching a late break of serve in each set to complete an 82-minute triumph. Vavassori had claimed the biggest win of his career against Andy Murray in the first round at the Caja Magica, but the second-seeded Medvedev’s combination of huge serving and relentless baseline hitting proved a step too far for the Italian.
“I played well today. I felt [good],” said Medvedev, who saved all three break points he faced in his second-round win. “There were some tight moments in the match, but when we had rallies from the baseline, I felt like many times I was in control. I’m really happy about my level.”
With the win, Medvedev improved to 2-3 in Madrid, where he also reached the third round in 2021. Despite frequently acknowledging he does not feel his most comfortable on clay, the 19-time tour-level titlist hopes his opening victory can be the foundation for a bigger run in the Spanish capital.
“I just want to play my best,” said Medvedev. “Sure, everyone is saying here I should like it a little bit more than other clay courts because the serve goes a bit faster, the court is faster. So far I haven’t done well in Madrid, but today was a great match and I just hope for more matches like this in the next two weeks.”
The World No. 3 Medvedev is now 32-4 for the year, a record which has taken him to top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. He is chasing his fifth tour-level trophy of the season in Madrid, where he now prepares for a third-round clash against another qualifier, Alexander Shevchenko.
Shevchenko backed up his first-round win against J.J. Wolf in Madrid in style by dismantling the 31st seed Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-1. The 22-year-old converted all five break points he earned and powered 24 winners in his 45-minute victory as he reached the third round on his ATP Masters 1000 main-draw debut.
The fast-rising Shevchenko has already won two ATP Challenger Tour events (including one in Madrid earlier this month) in 2023 and broke the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time on 17 April.
Also on Saturday, Alex de Minaur made a fast start to his Madrid campaign by downing qualifier Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 7-6(5). The 16th seed held his nerve in a tight second-set tie-break to improve to 15-8 for 2023 and take a 4-3 lead against Cecchinato in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series.
De Minaur’s third-round opponent will be another qualifier, Aslan Karatsev. The three-time ATP Tour titlist breezed past 23rd seed Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, converting four of his seven break points to clinch his fifth tour-level win of the season.