A qualification, and a little bloodshed. Winner of the French naturalized American Maxime Cressy this Monday in the round of 16 of the Australian Open (6-2, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5), the world number two Daniil Medvedev had to fight in four sets under the heat. A 3:30 fight, where the Russian sometimes lost his nerves, like this heated discussion with the chair umpire during a change of sides.
At the heart of the exchange: the delay used by Cressy between its services. Too long in the eyes of the winner of the last US Open who expressed his exasperation. “I can’t even go pee,” said the finalist for the 2021 edition of the Melbourne tournament. Another axis of criticism from Daniil Medvedev, the style of his opponent, passionate about serve and volley from the height of his 1.98 m and who went up to the net 104 times during the meeting.
“It’s so boring!” »
“It’s so boring!” shouted the favorite of this Australian Open since the exclusion of Novak Djokovic from Melbourne by the federal authorities. “He’s so lucky, it’s unbelievable,” the Russian also exclaimed, frustrated by the angles found by the Paris-born American. Anger sometimes staged, as he admitted after the match at the microphone of Eurosport.
“I was just dropping things in the air hoping to get into his mind so maybe he misses shots,” he explained. I’m not happy with what I said today. Still, here is Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals where he will face Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday January 26.