Medvedev and Sabalenka advance in Madrid

Daniil Medvedev into third round after beating qualifier Andrea Vavassori

Daniil Medvedev of Russia during his match against Italian Andrea Vavassori at the Madrid Open. EPA

Second-seed Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round of the Madrid Masters after beating qualifier Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday in the Russian's first match of the tournament.

In the women’s draw, second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated No 115 Camila Osorio 6-4, 7-5.

The third-ranked Medvedev leads the men’s circuit with four titles won this season, all on hard courts. He is now 32-4 on the year.

Medvedev is considered the top challenger to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who fought back to beat Emil Ruusuvuori in three sets in his opener on Friday.

Medvedev, however, said he is keeping his expectations in check given the surface is not his best.

“I will try my best as always,” Medvedev said. “Today I felt very good on the court, and on the rallies I was in control and that is very important on clay.”

The 164th-ranked Vavassori upset two-time Madrid winner Andy Murray in the previous round.

The Italian played well early on and forced Medvedev to save three break points. But the former US Open winner took control by breaking his opponent on his last service game of the first set.

Medvedev will next face qualifier Alexander Shevchenko, who beat Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-1.

The match was briefly paused due to rain, which was well received in Madrid which like the rest of Spain is enduring a prolonged drought.

Dusan Lajovic needed six match points to finish off ninth-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2 3-6 7-6 (5) and improve his career record against the Canadian to 3-0.

It was his third win in a row over top-10 opponents after he beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic and No6 Andrey Rublev on his way to winning the Banju Luka title last week.

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, is trying to reclaim the title she won in 2021.

The Belarus player was in charge for most of the match except for a dip in her form after Osorio needed a medical timeout when down 4-1 in the second set. Sabalenka struggled with his serve but was able to close out the victory.

Jelena Ostapenko was thrashed by Liudmila Samsonova, who soared to a 6-2, 6-0 win over the former French Open winner.