ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal had comfortable wins on Wednesday at the Mexican Open and a rematch of their epic five-set final at the Australian Open appears to be on the horizon.
Medvedev took another step toward top spot in the ATP rankings with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 second-round victory over Pablo Andujar while Nadal cruised past Stefan Kozlov 6-0, 6-3.
If Medvedev beats Yoshihito Nishioka in the quarterfinals and Nadal does the same against Tommy Paul, the two players will meet again in the semifinals less than a month after the Spaniard rallied to win the final at Melbourne for his record 21st Grand Slam singles title.
Paul advanced to the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-5 with a win over Dusan Lajovic and Nishioka progressed after rallying to beat Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The 26-year-old Medvedev is trying to replace Novak Djokovic atop the rankings and could achieve that goal if he wins the title in Acapulco.