BNP Paribas Open: Daniil Medvedev beats Brandon Nakashima to advance at Indian Wells
Daniil Medvedev’s hot streak continues.
The Russian tennis star, who won the last three tournaments he played prior to Indian Wells, captured his 15th consecutive match Friday evening on Stadium Court at the BNP Paribas Open.
The 6-4, 6-3 win over American rising star Brandon Nakashima was Medvedev’s first since he won a title in Dubai six days ago. No player in the men’s game is on a better run than Medvedev.
Medvedev, 27, will play again Sunday versus Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in the Round of 32.
"When I have this confidence, I manage somehow to keep it," Medvedev said. "How I do it? I don't know, just try my best and that's all that matters."
The win came following a lengthy rain delay that halted action for an hour and a half. One the rain stopped, the court was blown dry and action resumed. Medvedev and Nakashima took the court about two hours later.
The two each held serve for the first four games before Medvedev went up a break to take control of the set.
Though the pro-American crowd was largely behind Nakashima, who hails from San Diego, Medvedev immediately went up a break before holding serve to go up 2-0. Medvedev nearly went up a double break in the next game, but Nakashima saved a break point and ultimately won the game to stay alive in the match.
But Medvedev held serve to take a 3-1 advantage and Nakashima couldn’t crack a player who is now 20-2 on the season. It’s a mark few players in the history of the game have had through the first two and a half months of the season.
After the match, in a room full of reporters, Medvedev was asked if he thinks his win streak could continue long enough to win a fourth consecutive singles title. He sounded confident.
"I think I can win," Medvedev said. "Honestly, I have to believe I can win anywhere.
"The thing is that definitely if I have a bad day in Indian Wells, that's going to be much tougher than anywhere else, so I have to have this good day every day. But again, what makes me really confident is my title in Doha, because similar conditions, very similar, like maybe even the same. I feel like it's even slower here, but very similar. I managed to get the title there. It's less matches, four against six.
But again, I'm sure I can do it. Just need to have a lot of good days."
Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Daniil Medvedev beats Brandon Nakashima to advance
