January 20, (THEWILL) – A very focused and composed Daniil Medvedev marched into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, overcoming all that mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios and the home fans could hurl at him to advance.
In two hours, 58 minutes, the Russian world number two and title favourite defeated the 115th-ranked Kyrgios 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
The Rod Laver Arena witnessed a raucously entertaining and sometimes head-scratching match, with Kyrgios unleashing his arsenal of terrible serves and tweeners in front of a noisy home crowd while engaged in a running battle with the chair umpire.
At a floodlit Rod Laver Arena, a capacity 50 percent crowd applauded on every Kyrgios point, but despite their fervent support, the Australian maverick was unable to overcome the US Open champion, who displayed steely nerves.
Kyrgios forced a break of serve in the third set to take the match to the fourth, but Medvedev, who is the highest-ranked men’s player left in the absence of Novak Djokovic, quickly regained control.
Last year’s Australian Open finalist made it seem easy with a double break in the fourth set, and he will now face 57th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands for a spot in the fourth round.
Medvedev was not pleased with some of the raucous crowd’s activities and made the point in his post-match comments on-court: “I came to win this match and I am happy that I was able to do it. It’s not your choice when you get booed between first and second serves, it’s not easy, I just had to stay calm.”
Later, Medvedev did not hold back with his scathing assessment of the Australian Open crowd: “Those who are doing it probably have a low IQ.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
