The fifth competitive day of the Olympic tennis tournament was opened by Daniil Medvedev. The second racket of the world already at 11 am local time went to the central court of the Ariake park, where he had to face off with Fabio Fognini - albeit a rather convenient opponent, but regularly causing him problems. But this time it was doubly difficult for the Russian, because he was opposed not only by the Italian, but also by the most difficult weather conditions.
The tennis players had to spend almost 2.5 hours on the court in the Tokyo heat, which Medvedev endured much harder.
He used almost every break between games to freshen up a little and recover, and also repeatedly turned to the services of a doctor due to problems with the press.
However, the most discussed episode was in the middle of the second installment.
It became difficult for Daniel to breathe, he turned to the umpire with the words: “I can finish the match, but I can die.
If I die, who will be responsible? "
Fognini, on the other hand, repeatedly complained to the arbiter about the behavior of the Russian.
“I had no problem with Fabio.
He walked and whined the whole match, but I really felt that way.
After the match, it seemed that he also had no problems with me.
I will not repeat what I myself said during the match, the censorship will not let it through, ”RIA Novosti quotes Medvedev.
During the meeting, it was possible to clearly trace how the state of health of the second racket of the world changed. In the opening, he was quite fresh, which was reflected both in the percentage of hits with the first ball and in his actions during the rallies. Medvedev looked more confident than Fognini and made two breaks without any problems. But over time, Daniel's condition deteriorated markedly. It became more and more difficult for him to move around the court, and at some moments he could not even really perform the toss when serving.
Even so, Medvedev still remained dangerous at the reception and earned as many as five break points. Only the strength to realize them was not enough. But the colossal fatigue was reflected in their own presentation. Only 38% of hits with the first ball - very little to endure at least until the tie-break. In the eighth game, Fognini still hit the exhausted opponent and then leveled the score in the parties.
In the third set, a wonderful transformation took place. As Medvedev later admitted, the reason for this was a ten-minute break, during which he took a cold shower. It was the pause that allowed him to recover. Not until the end, of course, since in the first and seventh games he had problems in serving - Daniel had to recoup six times from the account "less". But two breaks at the reception, and one was completely zero, became a worthy compensation. The Russian beat the Italian for the fourth time in his career - 6: 2, 3: 6, 6: 2 and reached the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. There he will face a test in the person of the Spaniard Pablo Carreño-Busta, seeded sixth.
“In the first set, it became hard to breathe, the diaphragm was blocked. Called a physiotherapist to massage. During the match, I still felt uncomfortable, in the second set it was getting dark in my eyes, it was difficult to breathe, I tried to bend, do something else, nothing helped. Before the third set, I got up under a cold shower - either pan, or disappeared, after this either everything will bring everything together when you go out into the heat, or it will be good. I was lucky, ”Medvedev admitted.
In a similar vein, the confrontation between Karen Khachanov and Diego Schwartzman took place.
The rivals also had to play three sets on the court, and the first and final ones remained behind the Russian.
The difference is that the compatriot was much more energetic than Medvedev and made much less negligence.
So, Daniel's ratio of actively won goals and unforced errors was 8:40, while the 25th racket of the world - 18:24.
The undersized Schwartzman defended himself a lot on the back line in his usual manner, but this time he did not do it so successfully.
Moreover, the serve either did not go, as it was in the third batch (38%), or did not create any problems for the Russian.
In the first and final sets, the Argentine won only 7 of 22 points when he hit the first ball.
A unique figure for modern tennis.
It is not surprising that in these games Khachanov did not feel any serious resistance from Shvartsman and took them almost to zero, confidently stepping into the quarterfinals - 6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 1. If not for a small failure in the second set, then Karen's performance could be called ideal. But as the Russian himself admitted, it was imperfect health that led to two breaks on his own serve and the need to spend an additional 55 minutes in the heat of Tokyo.
“The opponent also knows how to play tennis. The first set was relatively easy. I started the best in comparison with previous matches, played aggressively, entered the court. But it was hot, stuffy, a fight ensued, I lost the second set. But everything ended well ... We asked to put it later. I don’t want to seem weak, physically I’m strong enough, but playing in such heat to "die" on the court ... I see no problem starting here at 16-17, it becomes easier. The lighting is good here. Yes, it would be just as stuffy and humid, but the feeling would be 10 degrees less, ”expressed the opinion of Khachanov, who will compete with Hugo Humbert for reaching the semifinals.
Unlike her compatriots, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova could not cope with the heat and left Russia without representation in the women's singles.
In the quarter-finals, the athlete got an uncomfortable opponent - Belinda Benchich, who by the age of 24 managed to inflict five defeats on her in seven meetings.
In favor of the Swiss, everything worked out this time - 6: 0, 3: 6, 6: 3.
The first set turned out to be a real failure for Pavlyuchenkova.
She could not really serve with the first ball (28%), which led to a chain of problems.
Anastasia made 13 unforced mistakes with only two actively won balls, and in total she took only seven of 33 rallies, only one of which was received.
After something like that, she needed to pull herself together, and it worked out. She played the second game much more confidently and surpassed Belinda in all respects, but spent too much effort. All this led to the fact that at the key moments Benchich was not much, but more precisely, which predetermined the outcome of the confrontation. The Russian woman lost her serve twice more and lost to the Swiss for the sixth time in her career.
True, at the moment Pavlyuchenkova still retains chances for an Olympic medal. A few hours later, she was forced to re-enter the court - this time in mixed doubles. Together with Andrei Rublev, they not without difficulty prevailed over the Croatian duet Daria Jurak - Ivan Dodig. In the actions of the Russians, there was a sense of inconsistency, which in many respects was the reason for their defeat in the first set. But, finding themselves in the role of catch-up, they did not break down and were able to turn the tide of the confrontation, and in the super tie-break they put the squeeze on their counterpart - 5: 7, 6: 4, 11: 9.
“We trained mixed, but the game is always different, different nerves, everything is different. And we both don't play mixed that often. And we are not greenhouses in principle. Therefore, we play from scratch ... I played a difficult match (with Benchich -
RT
.), I did my best, I really wanted to win, but it didn't work out. And then I tuned in to the mixed as a new tournament. I tried to forget alone. The Croats played great, but we started off somewhere sluggish. But they did it. Physically I feel normal after two matches, ”Pavlyuchenkova said.
Unlike compatriots, Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev have a little more experience of joint performances.
In June, they tried their hand at Roland Garros and even reached the final, where they lost only to the American-British pair Desiree Kravchik and Joe Salisbury.
Therefore, it is not surprising that at the Olympics they also felt much more confident, and in the first round they did not experience problems in the match with Christina Mladenovic and Nicolas Mayu.
It took them only 1 hour and 10 minutes to advance to the next round of the competition.
If in the first game Mladenovic and Mayu still actively resisted, then in the opening of the second they lost four games in a row and left hopes for a comeback - 6: 4, 6: 2.
At the same time, Vesnina has a fairly high chance of winning an Olympic award not only in mixed doubles, but also in women's doubles, where, together with Veronika Kudermetova, she has already reached the semifinals.
This time, Lyudmila and Nadezhda Kichenok could not do anything with the Russians.
The Ukrainians could not cope with the first serve of the Russians (6/33) and naturally lost in two games - 2: 6, 1: 6.
However, Vesnina herself admitted that she prefers not to think about the fact that in case of a successful performance in Tokyo, she could become a three-time Olympic champion.
“I’m already in history, everything is fine anyway.
I have wonderful partners, I will do everything to help them, ”Vesnina said.