Daniil Medvedev misses only one ATP 1000 hard-court final in his collection, and so he started his charge at the 2023 Miami Open.
In his career, the Russian played in a final of every hard-court Masters event except for the Miami Open. After playing a final in Indian Wells only a few days ago and losing his 19-match winning streak, he was determined to start another one in Miami.
In the second round, the fourth-seeded Medvedev took on Roberto Carballes Baena from Spain, who advanced after fellow Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles retired in their first-round clash.
Medvedev, who had superb form before losing to Carlos Alcaraz, showed that he's still on top of his game against the Spaniard. He faced a break point in the third game, but saved it and broke his opponent twice in the first set to win it 6-1.
In the second set, the fourth-seeded Russian added two more breaks as his opponent struggled to find the rhythm and made way too many unforced errors.
On the other hand, Medvedev controlled the match and didn't allow any drama on the Hard Rock Stadium, where the sixth-seed in the WTA draw Coco Gauff lost earlier on the day.
But Medvedev made sure there will be no other Top 10 upset in Miami on Saturday, winning the match 6-1, 6-2 in slightly over an hour to advance to the third round of the 2023 Miami Open.
In the next round, he can expect Alex Molcan, who defeated the 28th-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka in a match of two left-handed players in the second round.
With such dominant performance against Carballes Baena, the Russian is expected to win the clash, and looking ahead, the strongest possible opponent he may encounter in his part of the draw is the second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas, who he may meet in the semifinals of the tournament.
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