Feeling the heat: Russian top seed Medvedev in epic meltdown in Miami as he crashes out to Bautista Agut (VIDEO)

Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev obliterated his racket not once but twice on the way to defeat against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in their Miami Open quarter-final.

Continuing his winless run against the veteran Spaniard, Medvedev slipped to a third defeat in meetings with Bautista Agut as he went down in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.

Medvedev had spoken beforehand of the danger posed by the number seven seed, praising him as a “hell of a player” and claiming it was something of a puzzle as to why the 32-year-old was not ranked higher.

Medvedev again could not find the answer to the conundrum, and despite a tight opening eight games in the first set, Bautista Agut broke through at 5-4 before serving out the set.

The second set was more straightforward as the Spaniard took an early lead and continued to counterpunch his way to victory against his big-hitting rival.

Medvedev was clearly feeling the heat, at one stage hammering his racket into the ground before continuing to take his frustrations out on the already-mangled frame.  

After recently ascending world number two – the first new name in the spot outside of the ‘Big Four’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in more than 15 years – Medvedev let an opportunity slip to consolidate that spot and claim a maiden title in Miami.

Instead, the 32-year-old Bautista Agut remains in the hunt for a first ATP Masters 1000 title, and will meet Italian teenage sensation Jannik Sinner in the semi-final.

Sinner overcame Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in straight sets in their quarter-final, and also defeated Bautista Agut two weeks ago in their round-of-16 meeting in Dubai. 

Bautista Agut said after his victory over Medvedev: “I want to give Daniil all the credit, I know he is one of the best players in the world.”

“He’s been winning a lot of matches, he’s No. 2 in the world, so I’m very happy and proud about how I played today. I think I showed a great level on the court.”

There will be a maiden Masters 1000 champion regardless of who is crowned this weekend, with all the names still in competition yet to win a title at this level.

Russia still has a representative in the hat in the form of fourth seed Andrey Rublev, who meets America’s Sebastian Korda in their quarter-final on Thursday.