World no. 1 Daniil Medvedev has given an interesting explanation for his fourth-round US Open loss to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios on Monday (AEST).
The Russian went down 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6 in an entertaining game against the Aussie, with Kyrgios gaining the upper hand in the third set and never looking back.
Having been clearly outduelled by his opponent in the last two sets, Medvedev revealed he started to feel worse physically late in the match, something he blamed on an illness that he believes was caused by excessive air conditioning.
“He played good,” Medvedev said in his press conference.
“It was really even till the third set. I started to feel worse physically.
“I felt sick today. I get sick at least once a year during the USA swing cause the air conditioning here is just crazy. Last year it was in Cincinnati, this year here.”
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While Medvedev believes he wasn’t at his best, he gave his opponent credit for playing at a level similar to tennis legends Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“It was a high-level match,” Medvedev said.
“Nick has a different game, but he played at Novak (Djokovic), Rafa (Nadal) level.
“He has every shot. If he keeps this level all tournament, he has a good chance to win it.
“I didn’t miss a lot. I would love that he missed more.”
Medvedev is set to lose his place atop the world rankings at the conclusion of the tournament where one of Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud will take the top spot.
Kyrgios now advances to his first US Open quarter-final where he’ll play 27th seed Karen Khachanov on Wednesday (AEST).
The Australian is now the favourite to win the tournament with Sportsbet at $3.25 odds.
