Daniil Medvedev opened his Miami Open campaign with a 6-4 6-2 victory over three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray.
Medvedev is looking to bounce back from an early exit at Indian Wells last week and reclaim his world number one with a deep run in Miami.
The Russian got his campaign off to a winning start with a straight sets win over Murray.
Medvedev broke in the third game of the opening set and was never really troubled as he managed to close out a tight opening set.
Although Murray caused him problems early in the second set, the Brit didn’t create any break points as Medvedev easily broke twice to seal a convincing opening victory in Florida.
Speaking after the match Medvedev spoke about how pleasing the win was although he admits improvements can be made, “I think it was a great match. It’s never easy, first-round matches, even if you practise on the same courts for one or two months, it’s never going to be the same as a competitive tournament match,” Medvedev told the ATP website.
“So I’m happy that I managed to have zero break points against me. I feel like I have some room for improvement, but it was a great match against an amazing player and I’m happy that I managed to go through.
“On the days when you serve good, your opponent doesn’t have this freedom to return, it helps you. [In the] second set, the scoreline was easier, it was much tougher in the beginning, but when your opponent knows you’re probably going to get some aces and it’s not going to be easy for him to return, he gets pressure on his serve and many times that is what happens in close matches. And there were a lot of moments when I was happy about my game.”
Medvedev will be happy to negotiate a fairly tough match on paper as he looks to reclaim his world number one spot after losing it at Indian Wells.
As for Murray, there is a lot of work to be done as he now gets to work with Ivan Lendl ahead of a busy training block before the grass court season in the summer.
Medvedev will now play Pedro Martinez in the third round on Monday.
