No contest: Nadal routs Medvedev in 2 sets

This time around, there was no drama. In a rematch of an epic fiveset Australian Open final, Rafael Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3 early on Saturday and qualified for the Mexican Open final, where he will play Cameron Norrie.

A month ago in Australia, the 35-yearold Nadal cam e f r o m two s e t s dow n to beat Medved e v and win his record 21st Grand Slam singles title. Nadal is now 14-0 in the season and will try to capture his fourth title in Acapulco, where he´s a fan favorite after winning the 2005, 2013 and 2020 titles.

“This week m eans a lot after what happened in Australia, I was able to remain focused, that means that I’m OK mentally and that´s important because there´s a tough final tomorrow,” Nadal said. The Spaniard started off strong in the match wi ht a break in the fourth game of the first set that lasted 47 minutes. Medvedev, who will be the world´s No. 1-ranked player on Monday, played better in the second set but missed converting 11 breakpoints, seven of them in a fifth game that lasted 19 minutes.

“I don´t think that I played great today, my whole level on the match was not good enough to play against a player like Rafa ”, said Medvedev. Earlier, Norrie extended his hot streak in February by upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4. After losing all four of his matches in January, Norrie is 10-1 in February and arrived in Mexico after winning the third ATP Tour title of his career at Delray Beach. Norrie, the sixth-seeded player in Acapulco, matched the biggest win of his career by beating No. 4-ranked Tsitsipas.

“I served very well today, I really enjoyed the match, it´s one of my best wins, I hope we can keep the run alive tomorrow”, said Norrie. Norrie´s previous biggest career win was when he defeated D ominic Thiem, who was fourth in the ATP rankings, in the 2021 Lyon semifinal. (Agencies)