Daniil Medvedev made his debut at the Miami Masters 1,000 in style. The Russian, 27 years old and fifth in the ATP ranking, was in charge of dispelling all the doubts that he had left his performance in the Indian Wells final, and for this he devastated an impotent Roberto Carballés 6-1 and 6-2 in 62 minutes. After the elimination of the man from Tenerife, Carlos Alcaraz and Alejandro Davidovich remain as the only Spanish representatives in the men’s draw of the tournament.
After succumbing abruptly in the Indian Wells final against Alcaraz, Medvedev already warned of what was to come. “Other defeats hurt more, this one doesn’t. I’m already thinking about the following. Now is the time to try and build a new streak.” said the Russian, who had chained 19 wins and three consecutive titles. And, this past dawn, the one from Moscow showed that what happened a week ago was a simple stumbling block and that He continues to be one of the fittest players on the circuit. His victim was the Spaniard Carballés, who just turned 30 and ranked 84th in the world, the executioner of Bernabé Zapata, also a Spaniard.
In his debut in Miami, where he has crashed in the quarterfinals for two years in a row, Medvedev gave the man no choice. It is true that Carballés had a break ball, the only one for him in the match, in his second game to the rest. He didn’t take advantage of it, and it awoke the killing intent of his rival. Medvedev scored six games in a row, taking the first set and setting the second on track during this streak. The Spaniard could do little against a blessed opponent, who won 77% of the points played with his first serve, barely committed 10 unforced errors and took advantage of the four break opportunities available to him.
The ballot this past dawn was more than complicated, but Carballés continues to be denied against rivals in the world top-10, with whom he has a record of 0-11 throughout his career. In addition, his record on hard courts against top-50 players is 2-19 (the second win came in this first round in Miami after Zapata’s withdrawal). Medvedev, meanwhile, has won 20 of the last 21 games he has played, and is already awaiting the Slovenian Alex Molcan in the third round25 years old and 56th in the ranking, who got rid of the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6(5), 1-6 and 6-2.
