Top seed Daniil Medvedev beaten by Nick Kyrgios at US Open
MELBOURNE, Australia – Despite prevailing by a count of 14-12 on his first attempt and a first serve error from opponent Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios was in control as he won his opening match point at the US Open. Medvedev, meanwhile, was left to contemplate the fact that his second-round match with his good friend, Daniil Medvedev, was lost.
The last time they played each other in singles finals in a Grand Slam tournament? They defeated each other in the 2015 Australian Open semis.
And they won more than $50 million in prizemoney together – the most of anyone in the women’s game.
But after going up 2-1 in this year’s final, Medvedev will not be happy to learn that his dream of making his third Grand Slam final on the Australian Open grass was wrecked by Kyrgios’ ability to make life too easy for the Russian.
Kyrgios has always been a force on clay, but he hasn’t played on such a good surface, especially on grass, in a long time. Not since the Wimbledon final in 2008, when he defeated Djokovic in straight sets, making it his seventh career final on the grass courts. He hadn’t lost a major in a major tournament since that final. He was also the last man to beat the world No. 1, but he would be the first to win on the old Australian grass surface.
‘I thought Nick would have to be at least a hundred per cent to beat me,’ said Medvedev. ‘But the last point just made my job easy.
‘I’ve been practicing on grass for years, but Nick has never played on grass on grass. For the first time in my life, I was not able to go to the net. He played like he was there. He had his chances to be in control and it was very close.’
The third-seed had other ideas and was making his way to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over his good friend in the first final
