Medvedev denies Arnaldi's upset bid, Ruud also advances in Madrid

Daniil Medvedev battled back from a set down to open his Mutua Madrid Open campaign with an encouraging win on Saturday. The third seed earned a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Matteo Arnaldi by turning the match around after staring down an early break point in the second set.

Italy's Arnaldi was seeking his second big upset in as many years in Madrid, after defeating Casper Ruud for his first win against a Top 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings at the ATP Masters 1000 event in 2023. But Medvedev steadied after an inconsistent start and did not face a break point after his first service game of set two, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"The first set I was missing a lot and still I had my chances, even in the first set," he reflected. "So I'm happy that in the second set I managed to stabilise my level a little bit more, serve better, do less mistakes, win some good points. It was very important to hold when he had a break point in the beginning of the set. And then third set was perfect for me I think... Happy about my level and looking forward."

Meddy on the move 🏃‍♂️🆙@DaniilMedwed remains perfect at 6-0 in opening rounds this season with 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 🆚 Arnaldi@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/n3oDG5M4VI

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 27, 2024

Now a perfect 6-0 in his opening matches this season and 3-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Arnaldi, Medvedev will next face 25th seed Sebastian Korda. That series is much tighter at 2-2, with Medvedev winning their most recent meeting in three sets this year in Indian Wells.

After acclimatising to the high altitude in Madrid over the course of his two-hour win against Arnaldi, Medvedev hopes to take advantage of the unique clay conditions in the Spanish capital as the event carries on.

"It's very tough because it's not easy to control the ball," he said. "And then the same time, which is not normal on clay. If you do one good shot you can put your opponent in trouble. So sometimes it's this balance where you don't go too much, otherwise you're going to miss everything, and the same time you don't want to give him an easy ball. You need to adapt."

With two more wins, Medvedev would complete the box set of quarter-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000s.

The fifth-seeded Ruud closed Saturday's play with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Miomir Kecmanovic. Last week's Barcelona champion extended his winning streak to seven matches by denying Kecmanovic his first Top 10 win on clay.

Ruud leads the ATP Tour in wins (30) and finals (4) this season. He is now a perfect 9-0 in opening rounds for 2024 and 11-1 in opening rounds on clay since the start of 2023, with his lone loss coming to Arnaldi last year in Madrid.

Next up for the Norwegian is a meeting with Cameron Norrie, who also earned a late-night win with a 6-1, 6-4 result against 17-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca. With victory in the pair's first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, Norrie advanced the the Madrid third round for the third consecutive year.