Andy Murray looking forward to "big challenge" of facing world No 2 and 2022 Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev in second round of Miami Open; Scot saw off Argentina's Federico Delbonis in straight sets in his opening match of the tournament
Friday 25 March 2022 08:28, UK
Andy Murray will face world No 2 Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the Miami Open after beginning the tournament with a straight-sets win over Federico Delbonis.
Murray beat Argentina's Delbonis 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 on Thursday, easing to victory in the second set after a tight first which did not feature a single break point.
The Scot eventually took a 6-4 advantage in the tiebreak and wrapped up the set when Delbonis double-faulted.
Murray broke immediately in the second set and strolled to victory from that point as he bounced back from his defeat to Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the second round at Indian Wells last week.
A clash with top-seed Medvedev, runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in January, is next up.
Medvedev recently spent three weeks as world No 1 and must reach the semi-finals in Miami to leapfrog Novak Djokovic at the top of the men's game once again.
Murray said of his meeting with Medvedev: "[It's] obviously a tough match. He's played extremely well on the hard courts the last few seasons. He deserves to be right up there at the top of the game.
"It'll be a big challenge for me, it'll be a great test for where my game's at and the things I need to work on."
In the women's tournament in Miami, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu was beaten by Katerina Siniakova 3-6 6-4 7-5.
The British No 1, who had received a bye in the first round, took the first set while Siniakova seemed to be struggling with the heat and had needed to call the trainer after only five games.
Czech athlete Siniakova rallied from 1-3 down to take the second, before Raducanu moved 5-3 ahead in the decider and had a chance to serve for the match. However, the Brit was broken and Siniakova went on to complete victory.
Simona Halep is also out of the Miami Open, withdrawing due to a leg injury which the former world No 1 says will keep her out of action for around three weeks.
Halep reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last week, her first appearance in the last four of a WTA 1000 event since her 2020 Rome title run.
The 30-year-old hopes to be ready for the clay-court season.
