Daniil Medvedev won the first four games of his match with American Tommy Paul on Tuesday, then managed to rebound to win after Paul erased the double break at the BNP Paribas Open.
The 6-4, 6-0 win moved the Russian tennis star into the quarterfinals at Indian Wells for the third consecutive year. He’ll play the 20th seed, Arthur Fils of France, on Thursday.
Because of four rain delays that paused action on Tuesday, the match between Medvedev and Paul didn’t start until 9:55 p.m. on Stadium Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. By then, the 16,100-seat stadium was half-empty.
Still, several thousand hung around, crowded into the lower bowl to watch the action, which didn’t end until just after 11 p.m.
“It was great crowd here,” Medvedev said when interviewed courtside after the match. “It’s pretty cold, it’s pretty late. So, thanks for staying and supporting us.”
Leading 4-0 in the first set, Medvedev lost the next four games, with the American evening the score. But Medvedev, the fifth seed in the draw, won the next two games to close out the set.
In the second set, Medvedev saved a break point and won the first game. With Paul struggling on his serve, Medvedev went up a break to take a 2-0 lead in the set, then held serve to go up 3-0.
Daniil Medvedev hits a shot in his win over Tommy Paul during Round 4 of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., March 11, 2025.
Medvedev, 29, then went up a double break again, to take a 4-0 lead before holding serve to make it 5-0.
“It was not an easy preparation,” Medvedev said. “We both were here early, then rain delay, rain delay, so we were both a little rusty. But I’m happy that I managed to raise my level in the match.”
The match was a rematch of a semifinal meeting last year at Indian Wells. Medvedev won that one, but Paul won the most recent match between the two, in a Masters 1000 in Rome.
After reaching the semifinals last year, a win on Tuesday would’ve made Paul just the sixth American to reach back-to-back Indian Wells quarterfinals this century. The five who’ve done that include Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, James Blake and Taylor Fritz.
For Medvedev, he’s now 13-2 in his last 15 matches at the BNP Paribas Open. He reached the finals at this event each of the last two years.
[This story has been updated to add new information.]
Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Daniil Medvedev tops Tommy Paul to reach Indian Wells quarterfinals
