Daniil Medvedev makes winning return at Astana Open

Daniil Medvedev admitted to being ‘a little bit less confident’ despite defeating Alberto Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets in Kazakhstan.

Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, defeated the Spaniard Ramos-Vinolas 6-3 6-1 in only 79 minutes to safely book his place in the second round. Medvedev controlled the match from the beginning, breaking his opponent’s serve four times and winning 48% of his return points. It was the Russian’s first match on the tour since his shock first round loss to veteran Stan Wawrinka at the Metz Open two weeks ago.

However, the result in Kazakhstan was a clearly a step in the right direction for the world number four. ”The court is pretty slow. Albert is kind of a slow player [tactically], he likes to put the ball in the court. I felt I didn’t need to force myself to play faster because that could make me miss,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. ”I was a little bit less confident than in my best tournaments, so I knew I had to start slow and try to get into rhythm. Finally, great match. Hopefully I can raise my level in the next ones.”

Daniil Medvedev will face Finland’s Emil Ruusuvori in the second round after Ruusuvori beat Sofia champion Marc-Andrea Huesler. Medvedev could also become the fifth player to qualify for this season’s end of year championships in Turin with a strong showing this week. The Russian won the year end championships in 2020 and would join Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud who have already qualified. Furthermore, Medvedev has only won one event this year in Los Cabos and will hope to add another in Kazakhstan this week.

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