Medvedev overcomes 'superstition' in Madrid; Fritz claims 300th win via retirement

Daniil Medvedev wasted little time adjusting to match conditions on Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he delivered a high-quality first performance of the week.

The 29-year-old was firing in all departments during his 6-2, 6-2 victory over Argentine qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo. After receiving a walkover in his second-round match against Laslo Djere, Medvedev picked up pace in his quest to earn a first title since winning the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome in 2023.

“I felt good in practice here, but it’s not the same in a match,” said Medvedev after his 62-minute win. “Practice courts are usually a tiny bit different to the centre court. For sure [I was] a bit nervous because we have a small superstition as tennis players that, the worse you play before the tournament, the better you play in it, and the better you play before, the worse you play in the matches…

“But I overcame this superstition four years ago, so I was looking forward to implementing the game I had in practice. I’m happy with my level."

Power hour! 😲@DaniilMedwed races into the Last 16 in just 62 minutes@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOpen pic.twitter.com/HM8acmmXSl

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 27, 2025

Medvedev, the No. 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is now into the round of 16 in Madrid for a fourth consecutive year (did not play in 2022). He will next face American Brandon Nakashima, who earlier moved past Bucharest champion Flavio Cobolli 7-5, 6-3.

World No. 126 Cerundolo had notched four wins en route to the third round, and it was the ninth-seeded Medvedev who was fresh and focused throughout their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. Competing in his first match since the fourth round in Monte-Carlo earlier this month, Medvedev saved the only break point he faced and converted four of the five he created, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Medvedev is this week aiming to complete the set of semi-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events, having triumphed at this level on six occasions.

Medvedev's ATP Masters 1000 Titles

Taylor Fritz advanced to the fourth round after Benjamin Bonzi was forced to retire in the wake of dropping the second set. With his 4-6, 7-5, ret. victory, Fritz notched his 300th tour-level win, becoming the first active American man — 39th in Open Era — to achieve that feat.

Bonzi took an off-court medical timeout at 5-6 in the second set and returned to save four set points in the ensuing game before Fritz converted his fifth opportunity to level the clash. The Frenchman, who was aiming to reach the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time, then called the match after one hour, 36 minutes.