Daniil Medvedev continued his impressive form as the third seed made a winning start to his Monte-Carlo Masters 2023 campaign, beating dangerous free-hitting Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round of ATP Masters 1000 event.
Medvedev was dialled in from the start of his first clay-court match of the year. He moved into an early 3-0 lead with the help of some delightful early touches at the net and he stayed typically relentless from the baseline throughout to seal an 89-minute victory on Wednesday.
"Every match is a struggle (on clay), but I have had some good matches on clay. I managed to play well against a very strong player on clay. Lorenzo is very strong. Here in Monte-Carlo there are a lot of Italians in the crowd, but a lot of French also, so it was fun to play, and I am happy to beat such a tough opponent," said Medvedev after the match.
Medvedev, who has lifted hard-court trophies in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami during his recent impressive run this season, moved on to a third-round showdown against Alexander Zverev. The 13th seed German earlier eased past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4.
The duo has met 13 times in competitive matches but the two have never met on clay courts despite their long history. Thursday's match will be the pair's first meeting on clay."We've had some tough matches.
We played for the first time maybe seven years ago on the ATP Tour, and in juniors maybe 12 years ago. I remember I beat him once in a final on clay in juniors, but it's going to be a different story. I saw him in the first two matches, he seemed to be in good shape. I'm just going to have to be at my best." said Medvedev, who leads Zverev 7-6 in the ATP Head-to-Head record.