An incident between top seed Daniil Medvedev and a member of Nick Kyrgios’ entourage threatened to derail their incredible US Open fourth round match, with the Russian annoyed after a man yelled during his serve.
During Kyrgios’ incredible win over Medvedev, there was little to no animosity from either, with both players who are prone to outbursts staying relatively controlled.
The Aussie’s behaviour was very reserved by his standards, with Medvedev flat-batting a question from a journalist about Kyrgios’ ‘antics’ – but there was one incident from someone off the court that did raise the Russian’s ire.
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While Medvedev had calmed down by the time he explained the situation in his post-match press conference, in the moment he threatened to walk off the court.
“If they do it again, I’m not playing,” he said to the umpire Eva Asderaki.
Given that would have robbed us of an incredible three sets of tennis, it’s for the best that he stayed put.
‘Crazy’ moment as Kyrgios plays illegal shot
“It was only one time – so it was 6-5, for him, first set, 40-30 on my serve – and just before the second serve, somebody from his box was like ‘c’mon, get him man’. And that’s not nice,” he said afterwards.
“You shouldn’t do it when you’re in the box before the second serve, so I told this to the umpire.
“I don’t know who exactly it was.”
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Medvedev said he’d spoken with Kyrgios’ team in the locker room before taking media questions, and that everything had been smoothed over.
Kyrgios laughs about ‘boneheaded’ moment
“But we just talked in the locker room so I respect them, like I respect almost every other team, but in the heat of the match I was like ‘come on, he shouldn’t do it.’
“It was a man’s voice, but I mean, it was only once so probably it was not on purpose, I hope.”
The loss bumps Medvedev out of the world number one rankings, as he will be leapfrogged by either Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz or Casper Ruud into top spot at the completion of the US Open.
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US Open 2022: Nick Kyrgios laughs off ‘boneheaded’ mistake in win
