World No 1 Daniil Medvedev showed few signs of rust in his first match in six weeks, defeating Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-3 at the Los Cabos Open on Wednesday.
Medvedev is playing his first tournament since bowing out of the quarter-finals in Mallorca on June 23. He missed Wimbledon because of its ban of Russian and Belarusian players in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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The US Open champion gained the first break of the match to claim the opening set. He saved the first break point he faced in the opening game of the second, and gained the break he needed for a 4-2 lead against Hijikata.
The 21-year-old Australian world No 224 put up a fight, fending off a stream of break points before Medvedev closed it out after 90 minutes for his 250th match win.
“Someone told me this a few days ago,” Medvedev said about the milestone. “Otherwise I would not…
