National Bank Open | Kyrgios surprises Medvedev!

(Montreal) Nick Kyrgios is unpredictable, but he’s getting into the habit of winning all his games! The Australian won Wednesday the 14^e of his last 15 games by surprising world number one Daniil Medvedev (6-7, 6-4 and 6-2).

Michael Marois
The Press

A spectacular victory, punctuated by brilliant blows, reversals of situation and some mood swings, curiously on the part of Medvedev, however usually imperturbable.

Kyrgios’ transformation into a “winning machine” is beginning to disturb his rivals, even the best. And the Australian is fully aware of it. “It’s not like I never beat 1^er world before,” he recalled when asked how he felt.

Without complex, Kyrgios nevertheless knew that he had to play better than he had done the day before against the Argentinian Sebastián Báez. “The game was difficult. I knew he [Medvedev] was confident and that I had to play tennis that would break his rhythm. After losing the tiebreak in the first set, I thought to myself, “Why not change completely?” So I tried to play serve and volley on almost every point.

“I served well, volleyed well too, and I was able to win. But it’s only one game. From a broader perspective, this is not going to get me into the top 10 in the ranking. It’s only one game, I have to prepare for the next one. »

Curiously, Kyrgios looked fresher than the day before. “At this point in the season everyone is suffering a little bit from something, nobody is really quite fresh. I get up in the morning a little tired, my warm-ups are a little shorter. I try to do the minimum to preserve my energy for the match. Today I only warmed up for 10 minutes and went home to the physio table. »

The Australian is also visibly more serene. “I’m able to handle the post-game better than I ever could, that’s true,” he agreed. I am in a good state of mind, very positive. My partner helps me to stay positive, my team surrounds me well. Mentally, it all starts there. I have to stay positive, think about my good series at the moment and build on these successes. »

Stronger mentally and physically, Kyrgios is also beginning to realize the impact his successes can have. “Now I play for more than myself,” he recalled.

“If I hadn’t given a good performance [mercredi], I would have done a disservice to my sport. This is what tennis needs, thrilling matches between two good players. Watch the audience, and I’m sure the players watched the game too. It’s important that great players perform well in games like these, it keeps our sport alive. »

On his way, Kyrgios will be one of the favorites at the US Open in a few weeks. “I have two more tournaments before New York, here and in Cincinnati, and I have to count on these two weeks, two huge weeks. But nothing is guaranteed in life. I take each day one after the other, I don’t look any further. My daily routine already requires a huge effort…

Too early for Medvedev

For his part, Medvedev did not hide his deep disappointment. The reigning United States Open champion had just, like Kyrgios, won a tournament (at Los Cabos in Mexico).

“It’s a shame to have had to face Nick in my first game, said Medvedev.

I was not really comfortable on the court and I missed a few shots at bad times in the match. That said, he was very good, played well and beat me unequivocally. But I believe the result could have been different if we had faced each other later this week. »

The world number one had however snatched the first round. “Usually it allows for chances early in the second set, but I played the first game badly, he broke and he was already back in the game. With him, you never know. Sometimes, if you put pressure on him, he cracks, other times, not. There, I lost my serve at the start of the round and that gave him confidence…”