MY ACCOUNT
World number one Daniil Medvedev strolled to victory for his first title of the year at the Los Cabos Open with a 7-5 6-0 demolition of reigning champion Cameron Norrie on Saturday.
The Russian, returning to hard-court tennis in Mexico this week ahead of his US Open title defence, pulled away after an injury timeout late in the first set to comfortably triumph against the 12th-ranked Briton.
Medvedev won every game after the timeout, taken for treatment on a hand issue, after scores were locked at 5-5, with both players having broken serve in the first set.
The third-seeded defending champion had no answers in a lopsided second set which only lasted 26 minutes.
This year’s Australian Open runner-up, playing in his fourth final of the season, sent down 5-0 aces and converted six of 10 break points for the match to secure his 14th career title. He was exceptional on serve, with a 67 per cent first-serve win percentage.
The triumph capped an excellent week for Medvedev, who did not drop a set across five wins.
“Every match was very good, but the final match is always special,” Medvedev said on court after the match. “It’s always a high-level match and I’m really happy I managed to show some good levels and play some good shots.”
Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios will take on unseeded Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in the Washington Open final on Sunday after maintaining his unblemished record at this year’s event with a 7-6 6-3 victory over Mikael Ymer on Saturday.
Kyrgios, who won in Washington DC in 2019, had played twice on Friday following rain delays on Thursday but found his passage through with 10 aces including one on match point to secure victory in one hour and 34 minutes.
“I didn’t play anywhere near my best tennis today,” Kyrgios said. “I served pretty solid, but from the back of the court I didn’t play well at all. I’m just happy to be in the final once again.”
Kyrgios is yet to drop serve throughout this year’s tournament and has knocked off seeds Francis Tiafoe, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul along the way.
The Australian will take on Nishioka who stunned top seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 20 minutes to secure a spot in his third career final, beating a top 10 opponent for the third time in his career.
Rublev blasted 21-8 winners but also hit 31-14 unforced errors, with the Japanese’s consistency proving enough for victory.
