Daniil Medvedev is off to a strong start at the China Open after winning in his opening round clash with Cam Norrie.
The Russian, who crashed out of the Hangzhou Open in his second match, emerged victorious over Norrie in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to book his place in the round of 16 at the ATP 500 event.
Medvedev is now under the wing of Thomas Johansson, whom he recently appointed after parting ways with Gilles Cervara, his longtime coach of eight years.
With Johansson in his corner, the former US Open champion has now achieved a feat on tour for the first time in three months.
Daniil Medvedev secures ATP feat for first time since Halle Open
With his triumph over Norrie, Medvedev has clinched a top-50 win for the first time since his Halle Open campaign.
In his on-court interview after besting the Briton, he said: “I played not bad, I served pretty well except for a couple of games.
“Same on the return, I had a lot of chances to break, and I think I deserve to win in terms of the game plan and the stats.
“So I’m happy to go through, I can play much, much better than that, but the way back is step by step, and there was a small step forward.”
The former world number one said of the Beijing conditions: “It’s not slow and not fast. More to the slower side, but it’s not comparable to Indian Wells, for example.
“I saw in other matches that many guys break, break back, so I was ready for it. So that’s what happened a little bit today in both sets.
“To be honest, as well, it depends a little bit on how you’re playing against Cam. The goal for me was to try to be aggressive, and I think I did. I had a lot of winners, I was quite aggressive.”
Daniil Medvedev’s record since making the Halle Open final
Medvedev’s last top-50 win was against Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the Halle Open, where he overcame the world number three in a tough three-set bout on grass.
Since then, however, he has claimed just five wins on tour, having exited several tournaments in the early stages.
- Halle Open: Final
- Wimbledon: First Round
- Washington Open: Quarterfinals
- Canadian Open: Third Round
- Cincinnati Open: Second Round
- US Open: First Round
- Hangzhou Open: Quarterfinals
The 29-year-old lost in his first match at Wimbledon and the US Open, falling both times to Benjamin Bonzi.
His best run since Halle came at the Washington Open, where Medvedev won two matches to reach the quarterfinals.
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