Daniil Medvedev’s 7-6 (3), 6-4 trip into the Madrid quarter-finals on Tuesday completed a career matched set for the third seed at the ATP Masters level.
The defeat of Alexander Bublik meant that Medvedev has now reached at least the last eight at all nine Masters 1000 tournaments.
It took an hour and three-quarters for the world No. 4 to advance on the Spanish clay of the Caja Magica.
“It was a tough match, a lot of drop shots, and I got so tired in the end running for them,” the winner said.
“When you lose your concentration and you start to play a bit worse – that’s what happened.
“But he told me after the match that he was dead also.. at least I was not the only one.
“I’m happy that I was able to stay more consistent and win it in the end.”
Medvedev ran out a 6-0 lead in the first set tiebreaker but needed four set points to secure the opener he took a 4-0 lead on the way to his sixth win over his Kazakh opponent.
Earlier, No. 8 Andrey Rublev moved into the quarters of Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.6-2, 6-4 in just 64 minutes.
