Daniil Medvedev ended Cameron Norrie’s reign at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico with a straight sets triumph in the final on Sunday.
The world No.1 needed two sets to get past the defending champion 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 23 minutes. Serving five aces and winning 67% of his first serve points. The victory marks the first time Medvedev has won a title on the Tour since claiming his maiden major title at the US Open. Before this week he had lost in five consecutive Tour finals.
“Every match was very good, but the final is always special,” said Medvedev who didn’t drop a set all week in Mexico. “In the final you play the best player of this week, so it’s always a high-level match and I’m really happy that I managed to show some good level, some good shots in such an important match.”
The opening set was a roller-coaster encounter. After the first four games went on serve, the next three were breaks of serve before the world number one was able to consolidate to take a 5-3 lead and serve out the first set.
Winning the first set invigorated the 2021 US Open champion and he broke in the first game of the set and cruised from there not losing a game. Medvedev’s win is his second over Norrie after he also beat the Brit back in 2019 at the Shanghai Masters.
“It was not easy. Cam is an amazing player, so it was really intense,” he said. “When you play against Cam, you know that you have to fight for every point.“
In his post-match press conference Medvedev admits after the Australian Open in January he made some big changes and he is pleased with the results.
”After Australia, I changed my perspective on tennis a lot in a good way, and every experience is a positive experience even when you look back at it. I still dream of winning titles and playing good tennis and I am really happy about it”. He said.
Overall, 26-year-old Medvedev has won 14 Tour titles so far in his career. His win-loss record for this season currently stands at 31-10.
Both players will now head up to Montreal in Canada for the National Bank Open which begins on Monday. Medvedev has a bye in the first round and Norrie will start his campaign against Brandon Nakashima.
