Medvedev, Paul, Ruud advance to BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals

At the 2023 BNP Paribas Open, Daniil Medvedev declared that he is a hard-court specialist. Nonetheless, by his lofty standards this tournament has been unkind to him over the years. In fact, Indian Wells is the only hard-court Masters 1000 that the Russian has never won–although he did make it all the way to the final last year.

Medvedev is back on another title quest 12 months later, and this one–with less drama and fewer theatrics–is also going well so far. The world No. 4 needed three sets against Sebastian Korda in the round of 32, but for the most part he coasted into the last eight. Medvedev set up a meeting with Holger Rune after defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old won 84 percent of his first-serve points and broke Dimitrov on three occasions to advance in one hour and 16 minutes.

“I think in general I played well,” Medvedev said. “I was really consistent. I’m happy to beat such a great opponent in Grigor. To play against him is always a challenge and I’m happy I managed to overcome it this time.”

Dimitrov had previously gotten the best of Medvedev three times in nine tries.

Also advancing to the QFs were Rune, Casper Ruud, and Tommy Paul. Rune beat Taylor Fritz from match point down, Ruud overcame Gael Monfils in three sets, and Paul ended the run of Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-4.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.