From nearly missing the BNP Paribas Open after getting stranded in Dubai to losing his luggage en route to Miami, Daniil Medvedev has had it rough throughout the Sunshine Swing. But the tennis has told a different story as the former world No. 1 navigated three tricky sets against Rei Sakamoto to advance, 6-7 (10), 6-3, 6-1.
Medvedev was coming off a runner-up finish in Indian Wells, whose typically slow conditions often frustrate the 2021 US Open champion. But this year proved a reverse for the No. 9 seed, who thrived in the California desert and even snapped Carlos Alcaraz’s 16-match winning streak en route to the championship match,
“It’s completely different conditions [here],” Medvedev said on court after the match. “It’s always been. 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 fast, so it feels much slower. The serve can still work but in the points it’s much slower. I was losing the rhythm and I was just not ready for the ball to react the way it was reacting.”
