Medvedev masterful during Indian Wells win over McDonald
Daniil Medvedev remains perfect against Mackenzie McDonald in his career as the Russian opens in Indian Wells with a straight-set win. Medvedev is joined in the third round by good friend Andrey Rublev.
Oct 9, 2021; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Daniil Medvedev (RUS) hits a shot during his second round match against Mackenzie McDonald (USA) in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. || 209310_0091 NPStrans toppic
Winning is becoming extremely familiar for Daniil Medvedev. So is beating Mackenzie McDonald.
Medvedev, the reigning U.S. Open champion, kicked off his BNP Paribas Open campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over McDonald on Saturday night. The world No. 2 improved to 6-0 lifetime and 13-0 in total sets against McDonald after one hour and 12 minutes.
“Mackenzie is a really strong opponent; he can put pressure on everybody,” Medvedev noted. “I’m happy to be through quite fast…. I’m actually really pleased, because usually I haven’t played well in Indian Wells and I haven’t been playing that well in practices before [the tournament]. [I am] really happy with my performance.”
Indian Wells 2019 was the last Masters 1000 event played outdoor on hard courts in which Medvedev failed to reach the fourth round. Interestingly, he was defeated in the third round that time by Filip Krajinovic, who will meet the Russian next. Krajinovic defeated Marcos Giron 7-6(2), 7-5 in the second round on Saturday.
Rublev joins Medvedev in round of 32
Andrey Rublev joined Medvedev in the last 32 by beating Carlos Taberner 6-3, 6-4 during the night session. Rublev rolled in one hour and 36 minutes, but it was not entirely straightforward. The No 4 seed struck 31 winners — although to him it seemed like fewer — but he also committed 28 unforced errors. Rublev trailed by a break early in the second set, went up by a break, gave that one back, but then broke Taberner again at 4-4 when the Spaniard double-faulted on break point.
“I’m really happy the way I played today for my first match here,” Rublev remarked. “At night it’s super, super, super, extremely slow. It’s tough to hit a winner. But it’s part of our sport; sometimes you play late matches. But I really enjoyed it and we’ll see what’s going to happen next.”
Next up for Rublev is Tommy Paul, who dismissed Dusan Lajovic in straight sets.
