After four years away, it was success for Daniil Medvedev on his return to China with a delightful 6-2, 6-1 success at the China Open in Beijing against Tommy Paul on Friday morning.
In his first match since the US Open Final, he made light work of the American with a tour-leading 39th hard-court win of the season in just 81 minutes. He made just three unforced errors during the tie and put Paul under pressure throughout.
Paul did thrive at the net and won 79% of his points moving forward in a tactic to try and thwart Medvedev's baseline excellence. But he still couldn't gain a footing in the tie with Medvedev converting 5/11 break points to go 2-0 up in the Head to Head.
He won previously on his last trips to Asia with Tokyo in 2018 and Shanghai in 2019 going the way of Medvedev, he next faces Alex de Minaur who has been in superb form in recent months as he kicks off the Asian swing with a superb victory.
Also, there was success for Grigor Dimitrov who came from 2-6, 1-5 down to defeat Mackenzie McDonald. It is a 32nd tour win of the season for the Bulgarian who has not gone over 30 since 2017 and is a mark of a return to form of sorts. As well as his marathon man status which returns again.