Daniil Medvedev secured his place in the Miami Open third round after surviving a scare against youngster Rei Sakamoto.
The Russian fell a set behind to the talented Japanese youngster before roaring back to claim a 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Medvedev, who has emerged as a Grand Slam contender once again after strong performances in Dubai and Indian Wells, will play 18th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the Miami Open fourth round.
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After defeating Sakamoto on Saturday, Medvedev said he had noticed a change in the Miami Open playing conditions, making a bold statement when comparing the event to Indian Wells.
Daniil Medvedev claims Indian Wells had faster court speeds than the Miami Open
Speaking on court after the match, Medvedev claimed that the Miami Open court speeds have slowed down compared to previous editions of the event.
The tournament has boasted one of the quicker hard courts in recent years, with Tennis Abstract recording an average 2025 court speed of 1.17.
Indian Wells’ 2025 court speed was under 0.8 in 2025, but has since jumped to 1.09.
“It’s completely different conditions, it’s always been,” Medvedev began.
“Usually I feel like it’s kind of quicker in Miami, not too much, but a bit. This year it’s slower because Indian Wells was faster… except the serve, the serve can work.
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“But in the points it was much slower, so I was losing the rhythm a bit and making some errors.
“I was just not ready for the ball to react the way it reacted. I managed throughout the match to play a bit better and better. Probably wear him out a bit. It’s just his second or third ATP match or something.
“Happy with the way I played toward the end of the match and again, never easy to make the transition from Indian Wells to Miami. The most important thing is to win.”
Daniil Medvedev’s opportunity
As mentioned previously, Medvedev is set to play Francisco Cerundolo next.
Both Medvedev and Cerundolo now have a great opportunity to reach the Miami Open quarterfinals after eighth seed Ben Shelton was stunned by Alexander Shevchenko [pictured below] on Saturday.
As a result, the winner of Medvedev and Cerundolo will play Shevchenko or 31st seed Ugo Humbert in the Miami fourth round.
If Medvedev were to reach the quarter-finals, he would likely play third seed Alexander Zverev.
Medvedev has an excellent record against the German, winning 14 of their 22 matches on the Tour.
However, Zverev won their last contest at the 2025 Paris Masters, defeating the Russian 2-6, 6-3, 7-6.
