It was with courage and adrenaline that the Russian (6th in the world) overcame the pain of his injury, which occurred on a break point in his favor, at 3-2 in the second set, to finally overthrow 6- 7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 Alexander Zverev (14th).
On a support, his ankle turned “quite violently” inwards, then outwards. Struggling to hide his pain, he saw his opponent running towards him.
And for good reason, the scene inevitably brought the German back nine months, when he himself suffered a serious torn ligament in the same place in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros. Forced to give up against Rafael Nadal, he had to undergo surgery and was sidelined for six months.
“I said to myself ‘OK, I’ll get up, I’ll be fine’. And then I stayed on the ground because the pain was mounting. Then I thought it was better for me to stop,” Medvedev said afterwards. -cut.
Treated by the physio, who put a bandage on him, he finally found the strength to continue. “What was surprising was that it was easier for me to run than to walk, he explained. I limped, when I walked, but I could move quite well, probably 95%, even if I had cramps at the end”, he underlined.
The winner of the US Open 2021 has thus reversed the situation, winning his 17th victory in a row, relying on a tennis found. The one that allowed him to win consecutively in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai in February.
Alcaraz and Swiatek at night
“Now that the adrenaline is down, it’s swelled up a lot. I can’t walk properly. It’s quite painful, but nothing too bad I hope. If all goes well, I’m going to bandage my ankle tomorrow, take a painkiller and go play”, concluded the Russian who will face the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich (28th), winner 6-3, 6-4 of the Chilean Cristian Garin (97th).
For his part, Cameron Norrie did not make any detail to overcome the obstacle Andrey Rublev, semi-finalist last year. Aggressive and sharp, the Briton (12th) won 6-2, 6-4 in 1h18 and will face the American Frances Tiafoe (16th).
The defending champion, Taylor Fritz (5th), was barely less expeditious to get rid of Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (84th) 6-4, 6-3.
Among the women, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2nd), winner of the Australian Open, had to work to dismiss the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (16th) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
In the quarter, she will face Coco Gauff who fell 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 from Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson (103rd). “Mentally, I hung on when I had to. Game-wise, there are a lot of things I can improve, but given the circumstances, I’m happy to be done with this day,” blew the 19-year-old American.
Finalist last year, Maria Sakkari (7th) also lost a round against Karolina Pliskova (17th), winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. She will be opposed to another Czech, Petra Kvitova (15th), faller after the suspense 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (11/9) from the American Jessica Pegula (3rd).
At night, the world No.1 Iga Swiatek, in search of a double that only Martina Navratilova achieved in 1991-1992, will be opposed to the Briton Emma Raducanu (77th), crowned at Flushing Meadows in 2021.
The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (2nd), pretender to the title and the world throne, will face the Briton Jack Draper (56th) and Stan Wawrinka (100th), 37, will face a “youngster” 16 years his senior, the ‘Italian Jannik Sinner (13th).