MIAMI: Daniil Medvedev is thriving on the pressure of being the man to beat after dispatching Andy Murray in straight sets at the Miami Open on Saturday to edge closer to regaining his world number one ranking.
The Russian top seed served superbly against the 34-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion to ease to a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 triumph at Hard Rock Stadium and will face Spain’s Pedro Martinez next.
Medvedev lost his No. 1 ranking after just 18 days, having failed to go deep in Indian Wells, but will regain it once again from the absent Novak Djokovic if he reaches the semi-finals in Florida.
With Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both missing, the 26-year-old is the favourite to claim his first Miami Open title and his performance against Murray showed he’s in the kind of form that will cause the rest of the field a multitude of problems.
“For sure, guys going against you are going to have more motivation if you are the top seed,” Medvedev told AFP.
“It could be the biggest win of their season but I like to be in this position. The more pressure you have, the more you expect from yourself.
“At the beginning of my career, I would be really happy when I was in the third round for the first time but now I want to achieve more. So yeah, there’s definitely more pressure but also more motivation to continue doing well.”
Medvedev was delighted to briefly reach the pinnacle of men’s tennis but is determined to ensure his next spell at the top won’t be as short.
“It felt good to touch it,” smiled Medvedev. “Reaching No.1 is something that nobody can take away from me even if it was for two weeks.
“But when I did lose it, I just headed back to the practice court and knew I had to get to the semis in Miami to get it back again.
“I have a lot of motivation to stay at No.1 for a long time.”
