Throughout the night, Kyrgios punished Medvedev’s second serve and early in the tiebreaker drilled a forehand winner to take advantage of the mini-break and a 3-1 lead. But he couldn’t hold on and Medvedev’s improving serve led to more rallies and after Kyrgios missed a forehand into the net to fall behind 6-5, he threw his racket down. But of course a 132mph (212km/h) serve can undo a lot of mistakes and Kyrgios equalized in the tiebreak. Later, he saved a set point at 6-7 and again at 7-8 with big serves. But after looking for a backhand volley by the tiniest fraction of an inch imaginable, he stayed alive.
Both men were playing well but made crucial errors and after letting an 11-10 lead slip away on a Medvedev lob, Kyrgios again crashed his racket into the ground. But throughout the night, Kyrgios quickly righted the ship and this time was no exception as he hit a backhand down the line and then a well-disguised drop shot for a 12-11 lead before winning the seven thanks to a very unorthodox law cutting approach. shot that threw Medvedev off balance.
“Winning the first set was the most important thing because if I had won, it would have been almost impossible for me to come back,” Kyrgios said afterwards.
It was a big moment for Kyrgios, but his focus seemed to have lost him. He left the court and when he returned for the second set he seemed to have left his game behind in the dressing room. He lost the first seven points of the set, including two double faults, and before you could blink he was 5-1 down, with Medvedev serving to level the match. But Kyrgios didn’t fold, didn’t look to the third set. Instead, he settled down, broke and held to make it 5-3 and fought hard even though he lost the final game of the set.
“I’m proud of the way I’ve bounced back after every tough situation,” Kyrgios said.
That strong finish gave him some stability as the third began, but it disappeared almost immediately when he took a bad fall. He lay on his stomach in obvious pain for several moments until Medvedev came over to check on him. Moments later, Kyrgios had a breaking point when he made what he could have, indeed should have made for any normal player, a costly mistake.
He smashed a ball into Medvedev’s body and the Russian’s shot went high in the air and almost landed harmlessly next to Medvedev to give Kyrgios a crucial serve. Inexplicably, Kyrgios ran to the other side of the court and hit the ball out of the air into the court for what he thought was a winner, but was actually an illegal shot that gave him it cost the point and ultimately the game.
But Kyrgios was undeterred – he laughed it off and returned in Medvedev’s next service game from 40-0 down to win five points in a row and take control of the set. He almost got it back, when he lost a point at 40-0 in his next game when he couldn’t get a serve down, but again, his concentration didn’t waver and moments later he took the third set with a nifty drop shot. which Medvedev could not handle.
Medvedev, who said he started to feel sick and tired in the third set, credited Kyrgios with playing at “the level of Novak and Rafa.” Now he has every chance of winning it.”
Now with the advantage, Kyrgios played like he was the number one player in the world, winning points with a squash slice forehand, a drop shot and a barrage of huge forehands. Even the points penalty warning for an audible obscenity was a mere speed bump as he followed it up with a 122 mph (196 km/h) ace that had him and the crowd roaring of exultation And his next serve was a 131 mph (210 km/h) ace. There was no stopping him now.
Medvedev backed up Kyrgios’ serve even more in this set, so Kyrgios switched to corner serves, reaching the net behind them, mostly with great success. And while Medvedev had successfully attacked Kyrgios’ backhand during long rallies early in the match (although he was strongly avoiding Kyrgios’ powerful forehand), that strategy broke down in this set as Kyrgios began attacking with confidence from from both sides, especially on the return of the serve, winning. two emphatic service breaks, the second essentially clinching the match. At 5-2 and 40-15, Kyrgios, who has the most wins on the men’s tour since the end of the French Open, came full circle to the start of the match and dropped a 135 mph ace ( 217 km/h) as an exclamation mark on one of the most important victories of his career.
“I’m just trying to work hard every day and every practice session,” Kyrgios said, admitting that in the past he might have been out every night, but now he has more focus and determination.
Kyrgios will play doubles with Thanasi Kokkinakis on Monday and then return to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday to face another Russian, Karen Khachanov. After Sunday’s (Monday AEST) performance, Kyrgios will suddenly go from underdog to favourite, just a little more of the unpredictability of the hottest player on the men’s tour.
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