ATP Brisbane: Daniil Medvedev powers past Andy Murray to reach quarters

Playing with the protected ranking after being ranked 240th, Andy defeated James Duckworth in the opening round for some positive vibes after a terrible year and a half he had but he could not have repeated the same against the rising Russian, staying in touch in the opening set before fading away from the court, unable to match the rivals pace and the power of his shots.

Daniil blasted 16 aces and he dropped just 14 points in 10 service games, getting broken once but doing more than enough on the return to control the scoreboard and cross the finish line in no time at all. Murray struggled on his second serve and he lost more than 40% of the points behind his initial shot, facing six break points and giving his serve away four times to hit the exit door in just over 80 minutes.

Medvedev moved ahead with a break in game three following a backhand error from Andy, dominating in his service games to open a 4-2 lead and looking good to bring the eighth game home as well. Out of sudden, he started to spray errors and Andy broke back after a double fault from the youngster, leveling the score at 4-4 and boosting confidence before the closing games of the set.

After two good holds, Daniil blasted a forehand down the line winner in game 11 to grab the crucial break, jumping into a 6-5 lead and securing the opener with three service winners in the next game for a 7-5 after 46 minutes.

The Russian was on fire now and he landed another forehand winner to break Andy at love at the start of the second set, losing just six points on serve and forging a huge 3-0 advantage when Murray netted a backhand in the third game.

Serving for the win at 5-2, Medvedev hit three unreturned serves to seal the deal and march towards the quarter-final where he will face Milos Raonic. <table