Top seed Daniil Medvedev showcased his prowess by sweeping past former world No. 10 Frances Tiafoe on Wednesday, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International. Following a convincing first-round win over Marton Fucsovics, the 29-year-old Russian delivered a clinical performance, securing a 6-3, 6-2 victory in just one hour.
Match Highlights:
- Medvedev hit a remarkable 21 winners, including nine aces, nearly double his opponent’s total.
- He won 91 percent of his first-serve points and faced no break points throughout the match.
Medvedev commented, “The court is pretty fast, so you need to serve well and I’m happy with how I served. I feel like it was better than the first round. From the first point it puts a lot of pressure on your opponent, got a couple of good games on his serve. It was enough today, that’s how tennis is sometimes.”
In other developments, reigning champion Jiri Lehecka unfortunately had to retire due to a right ankle injury while trailing 3-6, 2-1 against American Sebastian Korda. Lehecka’s injury retirement now sets up Korda for a matchup against Alex Michelsen in the quarterfinals, after Michelsen defeated eighth seed Learner Tien.
WTA Action:
Elsewhere, fourth seed Jessica Pegula began her season with a victory, defeating Anna Kalinskaya 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the third round in Brisbane. Pegula improved her head-to-head record to 4-1, having rebounded from a break down twice in the deciding set.
“I can’t believe I played Anna first match of the year. We’ve had so many long intense crazy matches last year, so it was a real test for me today, especially having a bye the first round, not having any matches under me,” Pegula said.
She added, “I knew it was going to be tough, she’s such a great player. She can really take the racquet out of your hand, change the direction of the ball so well, so I kind of figured out just in time and competed really well, maybe got a little lucky here and there too.”