Medvedev beats Andugar and approaches the top

Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal posted comfortable victories on Wednesday at the Mexican Open, with an epic five-set final they recently played in Australia on the horizon.

Medvedev took another step towards the top of the ATP rankings with a dominant 6-1 6-2 victory over Spaniard Pablo Andegar in the second round.

For his part, Nadal crushed American Stephan Kozlov 6-0, 6-3.

Medvedev, 26, who could topple Novak Djokovic if he wins the title in Acapulco, will play either Taylor Fritz or Yoshihito Nishioka in the quarter-finals.

“If I succeed, it will mean a lot. There will be a lot of stats about how long you haven’t done this or that… It will be fun, but I have to do it first. My main goal is to win as many matches as possible in the coming weeks.

If he wins, and if Nadal beats Tommy Ball, the two will meet in the semi-finals, less than a month after the Spaniard came back from behind to win the final in Melbourne to set a record with 21 singles titles in a Grand Slam.

It took just over an hour to defeat Andugar, a day after defending champion Alexander Zverev was expelled from the Mexican Open for racketeering against the judge’s chair after losing the doubles match.

Nadal was asked about his opinion of what happened with German Zverev.

He replied: “It is an unfortunate act, I have a good relationship with Alexander and in the end I will not tell him anything different, I think he deserves punishment because you cannot act in this way.” “I hope it will be a learning experience for him and other young people who are losing their temper and it makes sense that the organization that governs the sport is making itself respectable. In the end, the kind of attitude that has become fashionable recently should be stopped.”

Medvedev defeated Djokovic in the final of the US Open in September to win his first major tournament. Last month, at his next major tournament, he reached the final of the Australian Open, which he lost to Nadal.

At the age of 35, Nadal has been capped three times in Acapulco (2005, 2013 and 2020). It’s 12-0 in 2022 and took an hour and 16 minutes to beat Kozlov, who entered the tie thanks to an injury to another player.

“I wasn’t familiar with the numbers before, I’m honest, I’m getting ready to play and compete, if that’s the case, the numbers come up, but if I don’t play it’s hard for them to come out, so I’m not aware of the numbers,” Majorcan commented.

Also on Wednesday, Marcos Giron defeated Pablo Carreno Busta, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 7-6 (4). He will face Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who knocked out JJ Wolf in the final duel of the program 6-1, 6-0.

Cameron Norrie defeated John Isner 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4, and will face Petr Jojowczyk, who advanced without playing after Zverev’s elimination.

The Mexican Open tennis tournament is played on a hard court at the GNP Arena in Acapulco.