MADRID, April 27. /TASS/. Russia’s top tennis player Daniil Medvedev advanced to Round 3 of the 2024 ATP Madrid Open after defeating Matteo Arnaldi from Italy on Saturday.

In a match that lasted for two hours and three minutes Russia’s 3rd-seed Medvedev outplayed his unseeded rival from Italy 2-6; 6-4; 6-4 and is now set to play in the next round against 25th-seed Sebastian Korda of the United States.

"The first set I was missing a lot and still I had my chances, even in the first set," the tournament’s official website quoted Medvedev as saying after his win over Arnaldi.

"So I'm happy that in the second set I managed to stabilize my level a little bit more, serve better, do less mistakes, win some good points," he continued. "It was very important to hold when he had a break point in the beginning of the set. And then third set was perfect for me I think... Happy about my level and looking forward."

Commenting about his play on the clay courts in Madrid, Medvedev said: "It's very tough because it's not easy to control the ball."

"And then the same time, which is not normal on clay. If you do one good shot you can put your opponent in trouble," according to Medvedev. "So sometimes it's this balance where you don't go too much, otherwise you're going to miss everything, and the same time you don't want to give him an easy ball. You need to adapt."

Medvedev, 28, is currently fourth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Rankings. In 2022, the top Russian racket spent sixteen weeks as the number one player in the world. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He won five of these 20 titles in 2023. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup as well as the ATP Cup playing for the Russian national team.

The 2023 Madrid Open is being played on outdoor clay courts between April 23 and May 5 and offers $963,200 in prize money.

Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.

On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.

However, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.