"I am disappointed, for a few days I will be just a little sad, but I will not cry. The fact that I will no longer be number 1 was not the first thing that came to mind after the game with Kyrgios. I know what position I'll be in. Probably 3 or 4. I guess Carlos Alcaraz will overtake me. "
Word of
Daniil Medveded
.
The defeat at the US Open, last Grand Slam of the year, against Nick Kyrgios not only will not allow him to defend the title but will make him lose the position of number one in the ATP ranking.
The analysis of the Russian at the end of the match against the Australian is clear: "I have to try to do better - his words at the press conference - It was the last slam of the year. It didn't go well enough. Australia when I had the chance. I didn't have the chance to play at Wimbledon. At Roland Garros I went out in the fourth round lost, like here at the US Open. I have to do better. I have to get more points if I want to be number 1 again of the world".
From Monday 12 September at the top of the ATP ranking there will be one of the three remaining contenders, by virtue of the points they will be able to conquer in the last days of these US Open.
One between Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud (who will face Matteo Berrettini in the quarters),
with the Spaniard who on paper has the greatest chances of returning to the top of the ranking, given that the two contenders would still need to win the tournament or at least reach the final to take the Majorcan from the scepter.
Kyrgios, on the other hand, beat the Russian for the fourth time in five direct clashes (the second time in just over a month), thus landing for the first time in his career in the quarter-finals of the US Open.
It was an extraordinary level match that fuels the charm of the rivalry between these two fine-headed champions with a smoky character: Kyrgios finished it in four sets 7-6 (11) 3-6 6-3 6-2, in 2 hours and 53 minutes, placing the usual flurry of ace (21) and an infinite sample of tennis inventions including 29 points won by going down to the net (out of 42 attacks) and 53 winners.
"I just think Nick played well - explained Medvedev - Until the end of the third set I think things were quite in balance, then he slightly overtook me from a physical point of view. Physically I started to feel worse and I think it's to blame. of the air conditioning that comes up behind you during the changes of fields. It had happened to me before in Cincinnati last year and it is not normal.
I started getting a bit of a sore throat and that obviously helped, but I don't want to make excuses, Kyrgios was just better than me.
I knew it was going to be a complicated game - he concluded - If he continues to play like this, he has all the credentials to think about winning the tournament. "