Daniil Medvedev defeated Benoit Paire, 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano tournament in Acapulco. He won the match in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Playing for the first time since his defeat to Nadal in the Australian Open final, Medvedev kept his focus and defeated the Frenchman.
Medvedev is looking to move to the top ranking for the first time by displacing Novak Djokovic, who is competing at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, 2022.
Even if Djokovic wins the Dubai title for the 6th time, he could lose his world no.1 ranking this week should Daniil Medvedev win the Acapulco title.
Benoit Paire Rips His T-shirt During His Match in Acapulco
Benoit Paire and Daniil Medvedev were battling it out in the 2nd set of their opening round encounter.
With the hot and humid weather in Acapulco Paire ripped his shirt apart during the 9th game. He was seemingly struggling with the weather. However Paire didn’t receive any warnings from the chair-umpire for his actions.
Sauvage ????#AMT2022 pic.twitter.com/Ue6S89odfy
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 23, 2022
Both the players held their serves in the opening two games. Medvedev then broke to love in game three and wrapped up the set with a second break in game nine.
Paire broke in game five of the second set. The top-seed got back on serve in game eight and broke two love in game 10 to secure the win.
After the match Medvedev said, “It’s always not easy to come back after some rest and some time off competition. Sometimes better, sometimes worse.”
“I felt like my sensations were not at the top today. But I managed to fight until the end against a very tough opponent. I’m happy that I managed to win.”
The world no.2 will face Pablo Andujar in the second round after the Spaniard defeated Alex Hernandez from Mexico 6-0, 6-1.