World number one Daniil Medvedev won his first ATP title of 2022 with a straight-set win over British number one Cameron Norrie at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico.
The Russian defeated the defending champion 7-5 6-0 for his first trophy since last year’s US Open.
Since then, the 26-year-old had lost in five finals, but hadn’t conceded a set this week.
“Every game was very good, but the final is always special,” he said.
“In the final you play the best player of the week, so it’s always a high level game and I’m very happy that I was able to show a good level in such an important game, some good shots.”
Medvedev, who couldn’t play at Wimbledon because of the ban on Russian playershad two set points on his serve at 5-4, but was broken.
In the next game, he scraped his hand across the field to a shot at the opening point and had to be treated for the blood.
But he quickly recovered and claimed a decisive break to lead 6-5 and once Medvedev served out the opening set there was no turning back for Norrie, also 26, who had defeated second-placed Felix Auger-Aliassim of Canada in the semifinals.
“It was not easy,” Medvedev added. “Cam is a great player, so it was really intense. When you play against him, you know you have to fight for every point.”
The next step for Medvedev as he warms up for the US Open, which begins in New York on August 29, is to defend his Canadian Open title for the Cincinnati Masters.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios will face the world’s number 96 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the final of the Citi Open in Washington DC.
The Australian, who won the last of his six ATP titles at the 2019 event, defeated Swede Mikael Ymer 7-6 (7-4) and 6-3.
Nishioka continued his good week, including a win over Briton Dan Evans in the last eight, with a 6-3 6-4 success over top-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev.
In the women’s event, Estonia’s 37-year-old Kaia Kanepi will aim to win her first WTA title in nine years when she faces Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the decider.
Kanepi, the world’s number 37, passed Australia’s Daria Saville 6-3 6-1, while Samsonova beat China’s Wang Xiyu 6-1 and 6-1.
