“At least respect Jim Courier” Daniil Medvedev hits back at the hostile crowd at Rod Laver Arena after defeating Nick Kyrgios
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Jim Courier and Daniil Medvedev
World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev played one of his toughest 2nd round matches when he clashed with local lad Nick Kyrgios at the ongoing 2022 Australian Open. Medvedev won the match 7-6(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in 2 hours and 58 minutes to wrap up a hard-fought victory that was not only against Nick but also the crowd.
Nick had the crowd support throughout the game and every time he won a point, cheers went through the roof and were followed by whistles and boos directed towards Medvedev irrespective if he won or lost the point. While a hostile crowd is no surprise for Medvedev, he kept his calm till the match point was won and he had sent out the crowd favourite packing.
During his on-court interview, Medvedev continued to receive some booing from the crowd which was confused with the ‘Siu’ celebration of Cristiano Ronaldo that also confused Andy Murray after his round 1 win. Medvedev however was direct towards the issue and did not hesitate in calling them out.
“I came to win this match and I am happy that I managed to do it. That’s the only choice when you get booed between the first and the second serve, it’s not easy so I just had to stay calm and win the match,” said Medvedev during his on-court interview with 4-time Grand Slam and 2-time Australian Open champion Jim Courier.
As Courier and Medvedev hoped to continue with the short interview, the noise from the crowd increased and made it “difficult” for Medvedev to hear what Courier was saying standing a few feet away. Medvedev eventually lost his cool and retorted on the mic, “If you respect somebody, AT LEAST respect Jim Courier. He won here guys. Let him speak, if you can respect somebody at least respect Jim Courier,” to which the crowd gave applause in honour of Courier.
“Break point, second serve and people are cheering like you already made a double fault – that’s just disappointing … it’s not everybody who is doing it but those who are doing it probably have a low IQ,” said Medvedev later after he exited the court.
“It was a funny match”: Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev eventually cut to the chase and gave his assessment of the match which looked to be slipping out of his hands in the 3rd set but Medvedev took the much needed between the 3rd and the 4th set to cool down and strategies again well and also break Nick’s momentum who was feeding off the crowd’s energy finding winners from nowhere.
“It was a funny match in a way because we both serve big and I was just trying to return in the court, at least even if it is a bad shot, of course better to try to make it a good one. I managed in the second and the 4th set when I managed to win without the tiebreaker, I managed to return with more and in the crucial moments but that was enough. These matches can get tight.
“I think the game is probably ready but then you have tough opponents like Nick here and that’s why we love tennis. Any match, anything can happen. That’s why we always have sensations, sometimes favourites win but I always want to play my best and try to hit good shots and hit winners and hopefully this can be enough to do something big,” concluded Medvedev.
Medvedev now takes on Botic Van de Zandschulp in the 3rd round in a repeat of the quarter-final clash between the duo at the 2021 US Open.
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Sarthak Shitole
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