The best news had spilled across the Atlantic the night before and put Daniil Medvedev in a good mood. Unlike Wimbledon, tennis professionals from Russia and Belarus are allowed to start at the US Open. “It’s great that I have the opportunity to defend my title in New York. Those were very special moments for me back then,” said the world number one on Wednesday in Halle, where he had reached the round of 16 of the Terra Wortmann Open as a latecomer with a 6:3, 6:2 win over David Goffin (Belgium).
Convincing opening win and happy news
The news from the USA, plus the convincing opening victory at the lawn tournament in East Westphalia – understandably Medvedev’s mood was excellent. The Russian has also long since ticked off his ban from London and feels a great desire to play lawn tennis. “If you don’t play Wimbledon, you have a little more freedom. You don’t have to worry about how to be in top form there.”
Daniel Medwedew
Goffin felt how good the condition of the 26-year-old is at the moment in just 64 minutes on Center Court. The Belgian, who lost in the final against Roger Federer in Halle in 2019 and then defeated Medvedev in five sets in the third round of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, conceded an early break to make it 1: 3, then had a score of 3 :5 also some bad luck. Medvedev parried his breakball with a 135 mph second serve that just scraped the line, and then ended the set with a smashing service winner shortly afterwards. Now the US Open champion was really in flux, the quick 4-0 was the decision. “I’m happy with the level I played at. Losing a match, whatever it is, can do something to your confidence. That’s why I tried to play aggressively,” said Medvedev, who lost the final in s’Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands on Sunday. But he is on course in Halle, the next hurdle is Thursday Ilya Ivashka (Belarus).
Bad-Boy-Image
The earliest he can meet Nick Kyrgios is in the final. In a gripping game, the Australian threw the second seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the tournament and cultivated his bad-boy image again. After losing the first set 5:7, he dismantled his racquet on the bench. A little later, the 27-year-old received a warning for exceeding the time between rallies and called supervisor Hans Jürgen Ochs onto the field, which he re-entered a little later to the whistles of the audience. Nevertheless, Kyrgios called the spectators “great”, the Australian mastered the interplay between the crowd’s favorite and the bogeyman perfectly. Incidentally, the double winner of the Australian Open plays excellent tennis – and knocked out the sixth in the world rankings 5: 7, 6: 2, 6: 4. “Stef is one of the best players in the world, I knew it was going to be tough. But I played more aggressively after the first set,” said home-loving Kyrgios, who completely skipped the clay court season. “If there were as many grass court tournaments in Australia as there were clay court tournaments in Europe, I would never leave Australia.” That’s how Kyrgios is in Halle – and a contender for the title.
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