Medvedev clinches first tournament win of 2022 season

Men's world tennis number one Daniil Medvedev lifted his first title of the 2022 season in Mexico on Saturday night when beating the Los Cabos Open's defending champion Cameron Norrie.

As seen in the semi-final against Miomir Kecmanovic on Friday, the Russian endured a tough first set won 7-5 before demolishing his British foe 6-0 in the second to clinch his 14th ATP tour-level trophy. 

By reaching the final, Medvedev already knew that he would hold on to the number one ranking spot until at least the end of the US Open where he is the reigning king.

Coincidentally, the triumph over Norrie spelled his first tournament win since Flushing Meadows, where he saw off all-time great Novak Djokovic, and the 26-year-old was in good spirits post match after concluding a competition where he didn't drop a single set. 

"Every match was very good, but the final is always special," Medvedev said on-court.

"In the final you play the best player of this week, so it’s always a high-level match and I’m really happy that I managed to show [a] good level, [and make] some good shots in such an important match."

Despite being on a run of three lost finals in 2022, and five overall stretching back to 2021 at the Paris Masters, Medvedev didn't panic in his one-hour, 23-minute win and relished the chance to reverse his fortunes. 

"The good thing about tennis is that in one week you can turn around your season," the Moscow native noted in a separate press conference.

"Coming here I had lost five finals in a row. That’s not nice, I want to do better.

"You never know if it’s going to happen or not, and for sure before this final I was a little bit nervous, a little bit more than usual. But now I’m really happy [to have won one]," he added.

In a hard-fought first set, Medvedev required treatment from the physio after scraping his hand on the court and drawing blood, which he actually thought aided him in his plight.

"Actually bleeding helped me I think a little bit, so I could hold my nerve a little bit more. Since then I just managed to play good and it was enough today," Medvedev offered. 

READ MORE: Medvedev tightens grip on world number one spot by reaching latest final

After the set back, he then went on to win the final eight games of the final but said the match "was not easy".

"Cam is an amazing player, so it was really intense," Medvedev revealed. "When you play against Cam, you know that you have to fight for every point."

Finding his groove at just the right time with the US Open starting on August 29, Medvedev now heads to the Canadian Open on Wednesday where he is still yet to learn who is last 32 foe is.