Daniil Medvedev reaches round four in Miami to stay on track to regain top spot

The Russian will move back up to number one in the world rankings if he gets to the semi-finals

Daniil Medvedev beat Pedro Martinez 6-3 6-4 (Wilfredo Lee/AP) (AP)

Daniil Medvedev took another step towards a return to the top of the world rankings as he saw off Pedro Martinez in straight sets to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.

The Russian, who will move back up to world number one if he makes the semi-finals of the tournament, overcame Spaniard Martinez 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 24 minutes.

Medvedev dropped only four points on serve in a first set that he secured via an eighth-game break. Set two then saw Martinez immediately respond to being broken by replying in kind to make it 2-2, before Medvedev broke again in the seventh and saw out the win by producing eight points in a row on serve.

Top seed Medvedev told Amazon Prime: “I think in general I played not so bad.

“Really slow courts here so playing against a Spanish (opponent) is not easy. I felt like we had a lot of rallies where he was bringing the pace down and I couldn’t really do much.

“So I tried to serve well, to keep consistent, and I managed to do less errors in important points, and I think that was the key today.”

Medvedev’s opponent in the next round is American Jenson Brooksby, who beat Spain’s 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 5-7 6-4.