Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev failed to defend his US Open title, losing in the 1/8 final match to eternal rival Nick Kirios. During the meeting, the Russian complained to the judge about the Australian support group and even threatened to stop the fight ahead of schedule.

But he lost not at all because of the fans of Kirios.

Asked for support from the stands

The meeting of Medvedev and Kirios at such an early stage of the American Grand Slam tournament is an accident. Due to the fact that tennis players did not receive points for their performance at Wimbledon, the Australian, who reached the final in London and lost only to Novak Djokovic, was seeded only 23rd at the US Open. In fact, if everything had been the same, he would have entered the top ten and avoided meeting with the first racket of the world in the 1/8 finals.

However, Medvedev should have feared for the outcome of the match, because the score in their confrontation is not in his favor. Kirios won three of the four previous meetings, the last time – a couple of weeks ago at a tournament in Montreal.

Photo: © Paul Chiasson / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

That is why the first set at the US Open turned out to be the most stubborn in their confrontation and lasted a little over an hour, stretching to a tie-break. At the very beginning of the match, Kyrios, known for his outrageous behavior, tried to turn on the crowd, calling for support for him.

A few games later, after a mistake on the part of the Australian, Medvedev literally mimicked him by repeating the same gesture. The crowd reacted approvingly, showing their support for any elements of the show in the game.

“Where should I apply?”

There is not even a match involving Kirios, so that he does not find a reason to complain to the referee. A few days ago, he smelled the smell of marijuana from the stands, about which the tennis player notified the referee. This time he was unhappy that the referee started the service countdown too early. Eva Asderaki listened to him with a stone face and immediately pressed the countdown button, thus expressing her emotions on this matter.

Eva Asderaki / Photo: © Julian Finney / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Medvedev also found a reason for dissatisfaction. The Russian failed to realize three set points in the tie-break in the first game and lost the set, after which Asderaki began to complain about the box in which the Australian support group was sitting:

“They can’t behave like that,” Medvedev told the judge. If they continue, I won’t apply again.

Later, the Russian explained that he was infuriated. It turned out that one of Kyrios’ friends shouted under his arm before the second serve at the end of the game. As a result, the conflict did not have time to flare up and was settled in a room under the stands.

Photo: © Sarah Stier / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Kirios was also dissatisfied with his friends. He took it out on a girl, a member of his team, and a couple of friends a few days ago, when he had a bad match in the previous round. In the midst of the game, he publicly sent them out, accusing them of insufficient support. In the match with Medvedev, they all drew conclusions from the mistakes and dutifully applauded every Kirios won ball. But here to advise how to play, apparently, they could not correctly. Several times the Australian turned to someone from his box with the question: “Where should I serve?” But if he did not manage to win the ball after the serve, he exploded with loud curses.

“I won’t cry, but I’m still upset”

The most stubborn set of the match – the first – snatched Kirios. The second game was dictated by Medvedev, but after it ended, the first number in the rating lost the initiative. He did not have the first serve (only 59%), and the second Australian played confidently, depriving Medvedev of an advantage.

Photo: © Quality Sport Images / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Kyrios easily won the third set. At some point, Nick slipped on the court and remained on it for several agonizing seconds. The pause was so dramatic that Medvedev hurried up to the Australian to ask about his health. But the alarm was false – Kirios will continue the match as if nothing had happened. And then he made a surprising mistake, for some reason deciding to hit the ball from half of Medvedev’s court. He certainly would not have flown to his part of the court, but Kirios moved to the wrong side and lost what seemed to be a point won.

With the score 2-1 in sets in favor of the Australian, it seemed that Medvedev would definitely make it to the fifth game, but Kirios’s confidence completely confused him. The fourth set ended with a score of 6:2, and the Russian compared his opponent in terms of the level of play with Nadal and Djokovic. Medvedev also mentioned that he did not feel well because of the air conditioners that are everywhere in the United States, but he did not justify his defeat.

Photo: © Sarah Stier / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In addition to the title in New York, the Russian, who flew out at an early stage, will also lose the status of the first racket of the world. But he, in his own words, did not even think about it until he was reminded.

“I won’t cry, but I’m still upset,” Daniil briefly reacted to the loss of the first line.

After last year’s long-awaited triumph, it is difficult to hold back from high expectations, but, perhaps, in a season that was interrupted due to surgery and a two-month recovery, serious progress from Medvedev was not worth waiting for.

In the updated ATP ranking, either the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, or his young compatriot Carlos Alcaras, or the Norwegian Kasper Ruud will become the leader. All of them continue to fight for the title in New York.