Daniil Medvedev labours past Daniel Merida into Wimbledon third round

[p]The 30-year-old Russian took a while to ‌find his range on Court Two against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/daniel-merida-aguilar/WOtXbAu5/"]Merida[/a], ‌21, a busy all-court player, who broke into the top 100 ‌this year and is now ranked 84th in the ‌world.[/p][p]For much of the match, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/medvedev-daniil/O8qG0Nhb/"]Medvedev[/a], seeking a second Grand Slam trophy after winning the US Open in 2021, looked as though he ‌found tennis a chore.[/p][p]"[b]I was lacking rhythm ⁠a little bit in the ‌beginning[/b]," Medvedev said in a courtside interview.[/p][p]"[b]He was returning really well ​so being solid on my serve was a good feeling[/b]," the lanky 1.98-metre Russian added.[/p][p]"[b]My serve didn't ​really let me down today[/b]."[/p][p]Medvedev yelled with triumph and relief in the fourth set when he twice broke the Spaniard's ⁠serve and applauded ​the crowd when he took the match with a big serve that Merida could only tip into the net.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="6e6cc5cb-51a4-4831-ac1f-1442453b97e8" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="0b121429-3a56-4d34-8afe-4689fadf31e2" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]And it was a smiling Medvedev who told reporters later he was happy ‌with the way he improved during the match.[/p][p]"[b](I) was finding solutions, better shots. So pretty happy about it, and looking forward for what's next[/b]."[/p][p]Medvedev will meet either 28th-seeded American [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nakashima-brandon/ETGnbrpH/"]Brandon Nakashima[/a] or German veteran [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/struff-jan-lennard/Ek3bDDo2/"]Jan-Lennard Struff[/a] in the third round.[/p][p]Medvedev, a former world number one, lost in the first round at the French Open this year but said ranking was not his priority.[/p][p]"[b]For me, motivation is to try to ‌play my best, maybe win here, and then you get ​2,000 points. Then ranking is always secondary, because it ‌comes with good results[/b]."[/p][p]He said anything was possible in sport.[/p][p]"[b]I always believed in myself and sometimes after some losses this belief drops. Sometimes after some wins this belief goes higher[/b].[/p][p]"[b]Once you're still in the tournament and you ⁠didn't lose, I always ⁠believe I can win, ‌beat everyone and be the best[/b]."[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/daniel-m-a-WOtXbAu5/medvedev-d-O8qG0Nhb/?mid=4n5QHetf"]See all the stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="e4d8200d-597f-48d7-83c2-d394f1217426" /]