Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios have known each other and competed since juniors: the Australian, at the time, made a wrong judgment about the Russian’s future – Credits: @WILLIAM WEST
Australian Nick Kyrgios, as talented at wielding a tennis racket as he is irascible, controversial and unpredictable, never goes unnoticed. He doesn’t do it on the courts and neither does he do it now, when he is inactive due to various physical difficulties and comments on the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, for the Eurosport network. Of course this time, in the midst of general technical analysis, the former top 15 (he was 13th in 2016) made a comment about a thorny rival that attracted attention.
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Kyrgios and Russian Daniil Medvedev met five times professionally between 2019 and 2022, with four wins for the Canberra-born player. The duels between two tennis players with opposite styles but who share the authenticity (and lack of filter) to say and act without measuring consequences, always had different seasonings, some of them bordering on what is regulated. The confrontations were always entertaining. During one of the last broadcasts of the Australian Open, a competition that already has Medvedev in the quarterfinals, Kyrgios dedicated a reflection to him…
Daniil Medvedev never goes unnoticed – Credits: @DAVID GRAY
“For me, a guy who I thought was going to be horrible was Medvedev. I played against him in juniors in Roehampton (in 2013) and beat him 6-3, 6-3. I was like the dominant young man and this boy was simply terrible,” said Kyrgios, winner of seven ATP titles (the last, Washington 2022) and Wimbledon 2022 finalist (he lost the definition to Serbian Novak Djokovic).
“He had the worst technique I have ever seen in my life. I honestly said this guy should quit tennis, there was no way it would work with that stuff. Then he becomes number one in the world and Grand Slam champion…,” added Kyrgios, who has just undergone surgery several times and, last year, barely played a match (in Stuttgart, in June). The Australian expanded on Medvedev: “He is very funny, he was also crazy, like this was crazy. Now you see him and he feels very comfortable playing on big fields, something I never saw when we were youth.”
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Kyrgios, in his role as a TV commentator
At 28 years old, Kyrgios was left without points or ranking and his future is unknown. What’s more: in December he confessed that, if it had not been for the push of his loved ones, he would have already retired. A knee intervention and a severe wrist injury put him in check. “I don’t want to compete anymore. “I’m exhausted, I’m tired,” he described late last year.
Gastón Gaudio thought that Roger Federer would never be number 1 in the world
Kyrgios’ (wrong) ruling on Moscow’s Medvedev, current world number 3 and winner of twenty trophies, including the 2021 US Open, reminded some of Gastón Gaudio’s lack of vision regarding Roger Federer. The 2004 Roland Garros winner even said about the Swiss: “This guy is terrible, he will never be number 1.” This is how Gato himself told that anecdote: “The first time I saw Federer in Rome, in ’98 or ’99, I don’t remember, there was a great expectation with him: ‘Federer is coming, this is good…’. He had nothing, he was a boy, he was playing the qualification or the first round. I was with Benito Pérez Barbadillo, who today is Nadal’s press agent and who at that time worked for the ATP. We were watching the game and at one point I told him: ‘I’m telling you the truth… This guy is terrible, this guy is never going to be number 1 in the world. He doesn’t know how to hit it backhand! How is he going to be number 1 in the world?’ Imagine my vision…”
Medvedev advanced to the Australian quarterfinals – Credits: @LUKAS COCH
Medvedev, the third seed in the current Australian Open and two-time finalist in the big one at Melbourne Park, earned a place in the quarterfinals by beating the Portuguese Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7 and 6-1. He will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, ninth seed, who beat Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3) and 6-4, world number 122 and the great revelation of the tournament.
Medvedev’s victory against Borges
2024-01-22 15:27:19
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