By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday October 9, 2021
Daniil Medvedev was in near perfect form as he flew past Mackenzie McDonald at Indian Wells.
Photo Source: Getty
Shelve your assumptions regarding Daniil Medvedev needing some time to get back to form after going through the life-changing experience of winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September.
A month after cracking that major milestone Russian is running hot, enjoying the spoils of his newfound aura, and he played near-perfect tennis on Saturday night in Indian Wells as he pulled the strings of American Mackenzie McDonald, 6-4, 6-2.
Medvedev wasn’t just solid on Saturday night inside the big stadium, he was downright magnificent, hitting with stunning accuracy and directing McDonald around the court as if the American was his old personal tennis puppet.
Credit to McDonald, the feisty American that is most certainly on the rise and at a career-high ranking of 57. The former UCLA standout played solid tennis, but was simply overmatched by a Medvedev that is riding high on confidence as he heads into this final stretch of the season with what appears to be a full tank.
Medvedev dropped just ten points on serve, never faced a break point and claimed three breaks to coast to victory in 72 minutes. He’ll square off with Marcos Giron or Filip Krajinovic in the third round as he bids to reach the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas for the first time.
Based on the way he has started, it’s difficult to imagine Medvedev not playing for the title next weekend in California. He seems intent is widening the gap between himself and his other peers, all of whom were racing alongside Zverev in their quest to reach their first Grand Slam titles. It hasn’t happened for Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No.2 seed at Indian Wells or Alexander Zverev, the third seed, yet, and Medvedev would like to parlay his torrid tennis into another jaw-dropping run to stretch the distance between himself and his rivals.
It will be interesting to see if he can do it. Known for the ability to get hot and stay hot for long stretches, the Russian will try to remain invincible for as long as he can, and all the while send the message to his peers that this is the standard they must try to meet.
Welcome to the future of men’s tennis. With Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all on the sidelines Daniil Medvedev rools the roost - at least for the time being.