There have been plenty of upsets at the BNP Paribas Open already, but unsurprisingly Daniil Medvedev hasn’t come close to being one of the casualties.
With Novak Djokovic resting and Rafael Nadal injured, Medvedev is without question the man to beat right now. The second-ranked Russian is coming off his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open and that was preceded by a title at the Toronto Masters. Medvedev is now 10-0 in his last 10 matches and 18-1 in his last 19 following Indian Wells victories over Mackenzie McDonald and Filip Krajinovic.
The top seed had little trouble on Monday against Krajinovic, whom he defeated 6-2, 7-6(1).
“Filip is a really tough opponent,” Medvedev noted. “He’s always playing top tennis, very tough matches, especially that second set. [There were a] lot of ups and downs, but I think a great level from both of us. [I’m] really happy that in the tie-break I managed to [gain] the edge on my side.”
That marked the 25-year-old’s 50th match win of the season.
“I feel like I’m trying to play a little bit less–just playing the biggest tournaments, or the ones that will get me back into shape,” he explained. “So I’m really happy that I managed to get 50 [wins]. It means that I was doing pretty good in a lot of them.”
Up next for Medvedev on Wednesday is fifth career contest against Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian won their first meeting in 2017 (6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at Queen’s Club) but lost the next three. They most recently faced each other this summer at the Cincinnati Masters, where Medvedev cruised 6-3, 6-3.
Dimtrov has advanced so far this fortnight with victories over Daniel Altmaier and Reilly Opelka. The world No. 28 may finally be rounding into form this year, as he has now won multiple matches in three of his last four tournaments.
Still, there probably isn’t anything Dimitrov can do against Medvedev. In these conditions you pretty much have to be content to toil away at the baseline and play long rallies. But that isn’t going to work with someone like Medvedev on the other side of the net.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
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