Daniil Medvedev is through to his third straight Indian Wells Open quarter-final, after defeating Tommy Paul in straight sets. (More Tennis News)
The former US Open champion prevailed 6-4 6-0 after one hour and 14 minutes of a last-16 tie that was delayed by nearly f꧃our hours, due to heavy rain.
A runner-up at Indian Wells in the last two editions, Medvedev came roaring out of the blocks in wha𓂃t was a rerun of last year's semi-fin𝔉al, which he also won in straight sets.
Indeed, he 🐻raced into a 4-0 lead, only to be pegged back as Paul recovered to level at 4-4, but Medvedev eventually regained♔ control to draw first blood.
The world number six d🐭id not look back, racing through the second set to make it eight games on the spin, while setting up a quarter-final clash with Arthur Fils.
"We've actually had up and down🍌 matches so far that we've played," said Medvedev, who lost to the American last year in Rome. "The first one was really close, then he beat 🍸me easily, and now, I've managed to beat him a bit easier.
"I'm happy with my game. It's not easy to play here. Breaks of serve - of course, we still win more serves than we🤪 lose - but breaks of serves 🏅don't mean much here.
"So, even whe👍n he came back in the first [set], I was like: 'Try pushing, try going further'. I managed to raise my level during the match, so I'm pretty happy about it."
Data Debrief: Medvedev reaches 80th ATP quarter-final
Medvedev, aiming to make it third time lucky this year, is through to his 80th tour-level quarter-final -﷽ and 22nd at ATP Masters events.
The former world number one converted six of eight break points, while his opponent made 31 unജforced errors as he had no answer from 4-4 in the opening set.
