Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut says he played a ‘great match’ after disposing of world No.2 Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the Miami Open.
The 32-year-old didn’t drop his serve throughout his 6-4, 6-2, win over the Australian Open runner-up. Winning 69% of his first serves and dropping only four points behind his second. The solid performance by Bautista Agut was one which frustrated Medvedev who smashed his racket out of frustration during the closing stages of the first set. Overall, he hit 12 winners against 15 unforced errors.
“I think I did a lot of things well. To beat Daniil in two sets, it’s because I played great tennis. I was very solid and I could play with a lot of rhythm, make him work a lot.” The Spaniard told reporters following the match. “Physically I felt well on the court. It was a very tight first set. It was a great match from my side.”
Bautista Agut now has a 3-0 winning record against Medvedev on the Tour after winning all of their meetings on a hard court. He was also victorious at the 2017 Chennai Open and 2020 Cincinnati Masters. As to what is the key to his success, the Spaniard believes it is down to similarities in how they play their games. With each of them liking to play long rallies and draw mistakes from their opponents.
“It’s never easy to beat these guys,” he said. “Today (Wednesday) especially it was a very tough first set, very good rallies and very good points.’
“I could start the second set very focused and it was good for me to break and be up on the score on the second set from the beginning.”
Medvedev is the third seeded player Bautista Agut has defeated in Miami. He has also previously scored wins over former champion John Isner and Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. It is only the fourth time he has reached the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 event in his career.
Standing in his way of a place in the final is rising star Jannik Sinner who disposed of Alexander Bublik in straight sets. The two clashed earlier in the year at the Dubai Tennis Championships with the Italian prevailing in three sets.
“I am very happy [to be] playing one more match here in Miami,” said Sinner. “With Roberto I won a very tough one in Dubai two weeks ago. It is going to be a very interesting match and I think they will show a very high level this evening.”
In the men’s draw, all remaining players are yet to win a Masters 1000 title.
