Medvedev starts with thrashing win as he hopes to reach another final in Melbourne
ATP
Daniil Medvedev is a two-time finalist in Melbourne, and in 2023, he wants to push it another step further.
The 26-year-old Russian lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 Australian Open final and then to Rafael Nadal in 2022. This year, he wants to be the one that will end with a trophy in his hands, and he showed it in the first-round showing against Marcos Giron from the United States.
The two met already in 2020 in New York, which hosted that year's Cincinnati Open, with the former ATP World No. 1 player winning that match 6-4, 6-4.
But this time, Medvedev was much more dominant and capitalized on his opponent's mistakes to sprint towards a 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 win. In the first set, both players had a number of break points, but only Medvedev was able to use his chances, and he did so three times.
Therefore, he won the set 6-0 in only 38 minutes, which was the ideal start to the match. Paradoxically, it was the longest set despite having the smallest number of games possible.
On the other hand, the second set was the fastest one. The Russian lost only three points on his serve and used two out of three break points that he had to win the set 6-1 in just 26 minutes to strengthen his lead in the match.
Giron started well in the third set, as he was up 2-1. However, the third game of the third set was the last one he could win, as Medvedev won all the remaining games to book his second-round spot at the 2023 Australian Open.
The seventh-seeded will play against Australia's John Millman, who received a wild card and defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler in a five-set thriller in the first round of the tournament.
