Whistle from the stands, disputes with the referee and a broken racket: Kiryos lost to Medvedev in the brightest match of the day at the Australian Open

Enchanting duel between Medvedev and Kiryos

In one of the central matches of the fourth game day of the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios met. For the Russian, this test promised to be difficult for the reason that he was opposed not just by the owner of the courts, but by one of the 18 tennis players with whom he crossed paths in ATP tournaments, but never beat. However, during a press conference, the second racket of the world admitted that he was not embarrassed by this fact and noted that he had made significant progress since the last duel.

It was hard to argue with the main favorite of the tournament.

The last time the rivals' paths crossed was in Washington in August 2019.

Since then, 25-year-old Medvedev managed to reach the finals of the Major twice and win one of them, and Kiryos only once managed to survive until the second week, and he did it with difficulty - in 2020 in Melbourne, he alternately left not in the cases of Lorenzo Sonego, Gilles Simon and Karen Khachanov.

The Australian accompanied almost every successful action with expression - either sticking out his tongue, or running around the court, and the fans answered him with a standing ovation.

Not without broken rackets, traditional bickering with the referees and playing in public - exactly the antics that Nick became famous for, in addition to tennis itself.

In part, it was this behavior that helped the Australian in the third set, when he managed to catch on to Daniil's serve and build on his success. However, he did not have the strength or desire for more. The Russian as a whole controlled the situation, adding at the right moments and not reacting to pressure. And not only internal, but also external - the audience booed him, regardless of how the rally ended, and also actively interfered with preparing for the kick-in (although Kiryos also suffered several times due to shouts from the stands).

The first set turned out to be especially tense, which lasted 66 minutes and ended only in a tie-break. Nick was inferior 2:4, but at the key moment he managed to take Daniil's serve. Subsequently, he repeated this success only once. Basically, the Australian had little to oppose to Medvedev at the reception. He won 85% of the draws when hit by the first ball and performed 31 aces. But it is especially surprising that the Russian acted in an unusually aggressive manner and chalked up as many as 68 actively won goals. This helped him get a ticket to the third round - 7:6 (7:1), 6:4, 4:6, 6:2. There he will measure his strength with an "old acquaintance" - the Dutchman Botik van de Zandshulp.

Fans continued to put pressure on Medvedev after the meeting. During the flash interview, they whistled so loudly that he could hardly make out four-time Grand Slam winner Jim Courier. The Russian turned to the fans with a request to respect the ex-first racket of the world, but they did not really heed his words.

“The match with Kiryos was very difficult for Medvedev.

At this stage, Dana needs such meetings so that her nerves play.

The psychological advantage was on Nick's side.

He played at home, in front of his audience.

The last time Medvedev faced such pain against himself was in the US Open final with Djokovic.

It was a good game.

True, Dani often did not get hit at the last moment, he made more mistakes than usual.

This happens when you play against an opponent who does not keep the rhythm.

Although Kiryos is 115th in the ranking, he can play as a top 20 player, ”famous tennis player Andrey Chesnokov told the Championship.

In turn, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF), Shamil Tarpishchev, expressed admiration for Medvedev's performance, but admitted that doubts about his success disappeared after the first game.

“Having won the first set, Medvedev could not miss the game.

Lost the third due to one point.

Could be 3:0.

The game was like this because Kyrgios served well and sometimes played cool jokes.

But, again, there was no doubt.

Undoubtedly, it is good that Danya played such a match already in the second round.

Get into the tournament to the fullest faster.

The main thing is to recover well, ”added Tarpishchev.

At the same time, the honored coach of Russia Vladimir Kamelzon highly appreciated the qualities of Kiryos, but emphasized that Medvedev was much stronger.

“He showed composure, a good game.

Medvedev already knows the audience.

Not the first time everything is against him.

Although the Australian public is very heavy.

Kyrgios takes great pleasure in putting on a show.

Danya is psychologically ready to be the first racket of the world.

Just well done!

He broke Kiryos, who caught courage.

Fantastically spent the fourth set, — said the specialist.

Rublev's dominance and Kasatkina's success

Unlike his compatriot, Andrei Rublev did not experience any problems in the confrontation with Richardas Berankis, having been on the court for only 1 hour and 49 minutes. The Lithuanian tried to fight in the first set, but then he finally wilted and subsequently took only two games in total - 4:6, 2:6, 0:6. He never managed to make a break and took less than a third of the draws at the reception, and this despite the fact that the opponent did not serve. The Russian hit the first ball only 50% of the time. Now he is waiting for a difficult opponent in the face of Marin Cilic.

In women's singles, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Daria Kasatkina won tickets to the next round. Only Lyudmila Samsonova could not go further, she covered her racket in the second round for the second year in a row. But if in 2021 she lost to the 14th seeded Garbiña Muguruza, this time she could not cope with Marketa Vondrousova. In the WTA rankings, the Czech is four lines below the Russians, so it could hardly be considered a clear favorite. However, the 37th racket of the world could not take a set - 2:6, 5:7.

And this is especially offensive, because in the second she led with a break and even served for the game, but twice allowed her opponent to return the initiative. Lyudmila served even worse than Rublev (40%), and ten times she failed to put the ball into play on the second attempt. If we add to this the fact that she had almost twice as many unforced errors as actively won goals (43 - 23), the defeat seems logical.

As for the other two Russians, none of them experienced any particular problems. Pavlyuchenkova in a principled confrontation took over Samantha Stosur. Until today, tennis players have shared the court eight times and have four wins each. Moreover, in the last two meetings, the Australian took the upper hand - in 2018, she won at Roland Garros and Masters in Madrid. But the years take their toll. At the age of 37, she was unable to offer worthy resistance - 2:6, 2:6.

In turn, Kasatkina also pulled ahead in a full-time duel with Magda Lynette and along the way avenged her crushing defeat four months ago.

In August, the Polish woman defeated her in the quarterfinals of the Cleveland tournament, giving up only three games.

The Russian woman was more generous, but the revenge still turned out to be more than convincing.

Throughout the meeting, she surpassed her counterpart and did not allow her to make a single break.

Kasatkina won with a score of 6:2, 6:3 and interrupted an unsuccessful series of performances at the Australian Open.

Since 2016, she has never crossed the second round barrier, and in most cases she stumbled already at the start.

To break into the fourth round for the first time in her career, she needs to make a sensation and deal with another Pole, the ninth racket of the world, Iga Swiatek.

And if successful, she will go to Pavlyuchenkova.

True, if she copes with the experienced Romanian Sorana Kirstey.

In doubles, the representation of Russians has noticeably decreased.

True, it was impossible to avoid this.

So, in the first round, the lot brought together four duets at once, which included athletes from Russia.

Next come Vera Zvonareva and Veronika Kudermetova, performing together with Slovak Victoria Kuzhmova and Belgian Elise Mertens, respectively.

In addition to Varvara Gracheva and Anna Blinkova, Aslan Karatsev lost his chance to win the trophy in pairs.

At the Australian Open, he showed up with Artyom Sitak, but ended the fight in the first round.

At the end of the first set, the Russian-New Zealand duet was forced to withdraw from the tournament.