Daniil Medvedev, 2nd in the world and favorite for the tournament, advanced to the third round of the Masters 1000 in Miami on Saturday, beating Scot Andy Murray (85th) 6-4, 6-2.

The Russian, who has to reach the semifinals to become No. 1 in the world again, a stage he never reached in Florida (quarterfinals last year), will face Spain’s Pedro Martinez (47th), who defeated him. Chilean Christian Garin (30th) 7-6, 6-2.

A week after his surprise defeat to Frenchman Gaël Monfils in the third round of the Indian Wells tournament, Medvedev reassured himself with this convincing introduction.

Solid and aggressive, he broke to lead 2-1 in the first set, without ever giving his opponent the opportunity to create such an opportunity.

A little more under pressure at 5-4 in his match with the former double winner of the tournament (2009 and 2013), the Russian forced the decision by going up to the nets twice, before ending up with an ace and a winning serve. .

Under the eyes of Miami Heat (NBA) star Jimmy Butler, Murray was not worth the exchange, throwing some nice shots. However, he hit 2-2 on his serve, his opponent snatched it on his third chance, in the net.

Medvedev, who had already easily won his first match in Brisbane in 2019, then accelerated a bit more to offer himself a double break and finish at 1:30.

“You will think looking at the score that I had a margin, but it is never easy to face Andy. I knew it had to be from the first to the last point. “I served well, I made a lot of good shots, I am happy with my level,” Medvedev later commented.