By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday March 31, 2021
The absence of the Big Three at this year’s Miami Open has had the predictable effect of paving the way for a first-time Masters 1000 champion.
Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut made sure of that fact on Wednesday as he powered past Daniil Medvedev, 6-4 6-2, knocking off the World No.2 for his third consecutive Top 10 win. Medvedev, the top seed, was the last remaining former Masters 1000 champion in the draw but he was blitzed by a steady array of Bautista Agut groundies and dropped eight of the final ten games to lose a match for just the third time in his last 30 outings.
Bautista Agut will face Jannik Sinner in the semifinals on Friday, while the other four players—Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz and Sebastian Korda—will all contest quarterfinals on Thursday in Miami.
Bautista Agut is making a habit of big wins in Miami. In his last appearance at the event he took out World No.1 Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard now owns four Top 2 victories in his career—three against Djokovic, and tonight’s triumph against Medvedev.
“To beat Daniil in two sets it's because I played great tennis. I was very solid and I could play with a lot of rhythm, make him work a lot,” Bautista Agut said. “Physically I felt well on the court. It was a very tight first set. Well, it was a great match from my side.”