• Daniil Medvedev beats Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-3.
• It was his first match in six weeks.
• He didn’t play at Wimbledon because Russian and Belarussian players were banned after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Daniil Medvedev, who is ranked number one in the world, beat Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday at the ATP hard court tournament in Los Cabos, Mexico. It was his first match in six weeks.

It was the reigning US Open champion’s 250th match win, which was a big deal.

Medvedev said after the match, “Someone told me this a few days ago,”

“Otherwise I would not have known. That’s nice, a milestone in a way.

Medvedev said after the match, “Someone told me this a few days ago,”  “I want more victories, but that’s nice to have 250. We’ll try to get more.”

Medvedev is in his first tournament since June 23, when he lost in the quarterfinals in Mallorca. He didn’t play at Wimbledon because Russian and Belarussian players were banned after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Medvedev won the first set by getting the first break of the match.

In the first game of the second set, he stopped the first break point that Hijikata gave him. This gave him the break he needed to go up 4-2 on Hijikata.

The 21-year-old Australian, who is ranked 224 in the world, put up a fight and saved a number of break points before Medvedev won in 90 minutes.

“It’s definitely not that easy to play after you stop for a while, especially (playing my) first match on hard courts since a long, long time — since Miami,” Medvedev said.

“Sensations were not bad. I could have just broke a little bit more, but when you win everything is fine.”

Medvedev will play Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis next. Berankis beat Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was seeded second, also moved on after beating Alex Hernandez of Mexico 6-3, 7-5.

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