Daniil Medvedev back to winning ways in first match since Wimbledon ban
- Michael Schmitt
- 4 August 2022
World number one Daniil Medvedev beat Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata in straight sets as he made his first appearance in six weeks at the ATP's Mexican Open in Los Cabos.
It was Medvedev's first match since his quarter-final defeat at the Mallorca Open on June 23. He missed Wimbledon because of its decision to ban Russian and Belarussian players following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"It's definitely not that easy to play after you stop for a while, especially (playing my) first match on hard courts since a long, long time -- since Miami," Medvedev said.
"Sensations were not bad. I could have just broke a little bit more, but when you win everything is fine."
Medvedev won 6-4, 6-3 against Hijikate, with a solitary break in each set enough to dispatch his Australian opponent - though he had to fend off a break point of his own early in the second.
The match was also a milestone victory for the reigning US Open champion - the 250th of his career.
"Someone told me this a few days ago," he said. "Otherwise I would not have known. That's nice, a milestone in a way.
"I want more victories, but that's nice to have 250. We'll try to get more."
👏 👏👏
— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 4, 2022
Make that 2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ career wins for @DaniilMedwed! @AbiertoLosCabos | #ATC2022 pic.twitter.com/o00ZFAgvmZ
Medvedev moves on to face Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, who beat Argentina's Facundo Bagnis 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
Second-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was also a winner on the day, beating Mexico's Alex Hernandez 6-3 7-5.
