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World No.1 Daniil Medvedev has made a winning return to tennis after two months out of the game, eliminating Australia's last hope at the Los Cabos Open.
World tennis No.1 Daniil Medvedev has notched up his milestone 250th career victory to complete a second-round wipe-out of Australians at the Los Cabos Open in Mexico.
Playing his first match since June and making his debut at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel, Medvedev eased back into competition with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata on Thursday (AEST).
Banned from competing at Wimbledon because of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Russian top seed returned to his favoured hard courts for the first time since his run to the Miami Open quarter-finals in March.
"Somebody told me this a few days ago at media day, otherwise I would not have known," Medvedev said of the reaching the 250-wins landmark.
"That's probably a milestone in a way. For sure I want more victories but that's also nice to have 250. We'll try to get more."
Medvedev next faces Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in a quarter-final.
Earlier, Serbian fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic eliminated Jordan Thompson 6-4 6-2, Moldova's Radu Albot ousted Jason Kubler 6-4 6-2 and American Steve Johnson beat seventh seed Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7 (3-) 6-4 6-4, ending Australian involvement in singles in the second round.
