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Ahead of their opening matches at the 2023 Miami Open, Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev traveled to Mexico to take part in the Tennis Showdown, a friendly exhibition match at the Monumental Plaza de Toros.
The pair were staying at the same hotel as singer and songwriter Louis Tomlinson, who previously featured in the famous band One Direction. Tomlinson was in Mexico for the premiere of his documentary, "All of Those Voices," which is set to be released on March 22.
Prior to their match, Rublev and Medvedev had the pleasure of meeting Tomlinson and getting some pictures clicked together.
In honor of the meeting, a Twitter user unearthed a famous clip of Andrey Rublev passionately covering the hit One Direction song 'Steal My Girl' with his bandmates as a teenager.
In the Tennis Showdown exhibition match, Rublev defeated Medvedev in a closely contested encounter, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4).
How did Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev fare at Miami Open 2022?
Despite a semi-final finish at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters the week prior, Andrey Rublev had a disappointing outing at the 2022 Miami Open. Following a bye in the first round of the tournament, the Russian faced Nick Kyrgios in his opening match.
Rublev started the match strongly with an early break in the first set. However, it was rendered futile as Kyrgios broke back immediately to level the scores. The Australian seemed to have gained all the momentum from that moment onwards as he went on to win 11 of the next 12 games to win the match 6-3, 6-0 in a mere 52 minutes.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev crashed out of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters in the third round after a Gael Monfils masterclass, losing the World No. 1 ranking in the process. He had a much better showing at the 2022 Miami Open with straight sets wins over Pedro Martinez and Jenson Brooksby to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.
The Russian faced defending champion Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals. A semi-final finish in Miami would allow him to regain the World No. 1 position. However, he was unable to get past the Pole.
His six double faults, coupled with only two aces, hampered his ability to defeat Hurkacz, who was able to convert three of his 14 break-point opportunities to win 7-6(7), 6-3.
With both players receiving byes in the first round of the 2023 Miami Open, Andrey Rublev will take on the winner of the match between Alexander Bublik and J.J. Wolf. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev will face either Roberto Carballes Baena or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
