Medvedev crushes Kecmanovic to reach quarter-finals in Adelaide

Third seed Daniil Medvedev hit the ground running in Adelaide on Wednesday as he crushed Serb Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3 to move into the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International 1 at Memorial Drive Tennis Centre.

The world No 7 dropped just 12 points in the first set and saved the only break point he faced in the match as he moved a step closer to a predicted semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic. First he’ll take on another Russian, No 8 seed Karen Khachanov.

“It’s always better to win 6-0 than to win 7-6 saving nine set points and playing one hour, 20 [minutes],” Medvedev said, quoted by the ATP Tour website. “But tennis is not as easy, otherwise everyone would be No. 1, but we have only one. So happy with my level today against a strong opponent. Second set was tougher, but managed to close it out at the end and looking forward to my next matches.”

Medvedev ready for Khachanov test

It was a first completed match of the week for the former world No 1, who had benefitted from the abandonment of Italian Lorenzo Sonego (7-6 (6), 2-1) in his opener in Adelaide.

Now he’ll take on his close friend, Karen Khachanov, for a place in the last four.

“I actually don’t remember exactly where was the last time we played,” Medvedev said. “We’ve both changed a lot. He’s a very strong opponent, he can beat anybody. He beat Jack (Draper) today, who is a young guy on the rise, so looking forward to this tough match.”

Kecmanovic, ranked No 29, won against Australian wildcard Christopher O’Connell (6-4, 6-4) in the previous round.

Adelaide ATP 250, other second-round results (Memorial Drive Tennis Centre, hard, USD 642.735, most recent results first):

• Jannik Sinner vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Sebastian Korda vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
• Novak Djokovic vs. Quentin Halys
• Roman Safiullin vs. Denis Shapovalov
• Marcos Giron vs. Alexei Popyrin
• Yoshihito Nishioka beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-4, 6-3
• Karen Khachanov beat Jack Draper: 6-4, 6-2

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