'Garbage': Daniil Medvedev's brutal moment in Novak Djokovic hunt
World No.2 Daniil Medvedev has suffered a brutal loss at the Miami Open falling one match short of regaining the World No.1 ranking off Novak Djokovic.
Poland's Hubert Hurkacz has kept his title defence going at the Miami Open by beating Medvedev 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 in their quarter-final, as the Russian fell one win short of reclaiming the World No.1 ranking.
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The Russian fought off two set points to hold serve in the eighth game and broke in the ninth, but the Polish world No.10 kept his nerve in the tiebreak.
In the second set, Hurkacz broke on his sixth attempt in a marathon, 11-minute fifth game as the sweltering temperature seemed to get the better of Medvedev.
Sitting on his bench after the seventh game, the US Open champion removed his sweat-drenched shirt and requested assistance from the physio, complaining of dizziness.
In the following game, Medvedev hunched over momentarily and later glumly dropped his racket to the court after he whacked a backhand return into the net.
But, the match wasn't without one of Medvedev's quirky moments.
Medvedev appeared to turn to the camera and lash out at the balls being used in at the Miami Open as he labelled them "garbage".
'Never ever advise anybody to buy this ball, it's a piece of garbage, you're just gonna lose your money'
Medvedev, looking straight into camera on the changeover 💀 pic.twitter.com/vlejeRJYK9— Oleg S. (@AnnaK_4ever) March 31, 2022
Daniil Medvedev falls short of Novak Djokovic
Tennis fans were quick to react to Medvedev's lost opportunity to overtake the World No.1 spot with the Russian falling a measly 10 points behind the Serbian.
Rankings on Monday
1. Djokovic 8420
2. Medvedev 8410— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 31, 2022
Daniil Medvedev will NOT be getting back to World No.1 next week.
Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz has beaten him 7-6(7) 6-3 to reach the SFs. He loves these conditions.
Medvedev, meanwhile, looked uncomfortable and was hunching over a lot. He also called the balls 'garbage'.— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) March 31, 2022
Accurate depiction of Djokovic taking a hiatus while the rest of the tour chases the no. 1 ranking.#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/LLRWBfasGz
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 31, 2022
Daniil Medvedev, on what the conditions at the Miami Open took out of him today in a possible candidate for quote of the year, decade, century and all-time:
“Every muscle just went ‘cramp, cramp, cramp, cramp.' I was like a fish on the sofa."— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) March 31, 2022
Medvedev needed to reach the semi-finals to retake the world No.1 spot from Novak Djokovic.
The Australian Open finalist claimed the position briefly earlier this year, much to the shock of the Russian.
However, the reign didn't last long after Medvedev dropped points at Indian Wells when he lost to Gael Monfils.
Medvedev is now going to head into the clay court season - his least favoured surface to date - and attempt to overtake the No.1 ranking.
Djokovic will be allowed to play more tournaments, which included Monte Carlo and Roland Garros, after vaccination restrictions were lifted in a number of countries.
with AAP
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