Tennis world erupts over Nick Kyrgios and Daniil Medvedev news

Nick Kyrgios has set up a blockbuster showdown with World No.1 Daniil Medvedev after advancing to the second round of the Canadian Open.

Playing in his first match since winning both the singles and doubles titles in Washington last week, Kyrgios was too good for Sebastian Baez on Monday in a 6-4 6-4 victory.

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The win moves the Aussie star into the second round, where he will face Russian World No.1 Medvedev in a massive test before the US Open later this month.

Kyrgios and Medvedev are both in fine form, with the Russian winning the title at Los Cabos in Mexico last week.

Kyrgios claimed the singles and doubles crowns at the Citi Open in Washington, continuing the stellar form that saw him reach the final at Wimbledon.

He has now won 14 of his last 15 matches and has risen to No.37 in the ATP rankings.

"Medvedev is coming from a title too and he is the No.1 in the world," Kyrgios said on Tuesday.

"It's not like the rankings mean too much as the guy I played today is ranked ahead of me. But Medvedev is a machine."

The 27-year-old said he is on point physically, but had to work to maintain mental strength in the match played 48 hours after lifting the trophies in the US capital.

"Physically I feel fine, mentally I'm tired," he said. "I've not had much sleep in the last few days.

"I've put Washington behind me already. I've not played great in Montreal in the past, so I'm just trying to create some good memories for myself."

Kyrgios held a comfortable 5-1 lead in the opening set, but Baez fought back to 4-5 before dropping the set.

The Aussie managed to stop the rot and left nothing to chance in the second set as he closed out victory.

Tennis world erupts over Kyrgios and Medvedev blockbuster

Fans and commentators were left in a frenzy over the prospect of seeing Kyrgios go head-to-head with Medvedev in Montreal.

British tennis writer Stuart Fraser said the Medvedev clash would determine if Kyrgios is the real deal or not after his loss to Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

“Whether Kyrgios is seeded or not at the US Open, he will be considered a contender after showing at Wimbledon that he has what it takes to come through several consecutive matches in the extended best-of-five-set format,” Fraser wrote in The Times.

“A potential second-round meeting with Medvedev in Montreal this week would help to determine where exactly he will sit on the bookmakers’ list.”

Medvedev didn’t lose a set in Mexico en route to claiming his 14th career ATP crown.

“Feeling 100 per cent physically mentally ready,” he said on Monday.

“Really happy with Los Cabos for sure with the title. Looking forward to here, trying to get some good matches.”

Earlier, Alex de Minaur only needed five points and three minutes to mop up a 7-5 7-6 (7-4) win over Denis Shapovalov after rain had forced the suspension of their match on Monday during a second-set tiebreak locked at 3-3.

After claiming his sixth career title last month in Atlanta, de Minaur's victory was his eighth from his past 10 hard-court matches.

The 2020 quarter-finalist at the US Open next plays Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian beat Canadian wildcard Alexis Galarneau 6-4 7-5 in his opener.

Meanwhile, French showman Gael Monfils defeated Spain's Pedro Martinez 7-6 (7/4) 3-6 6-2.

Matteo Berrettini's comeback from a Covid-19 positive test that forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon stalled out, with the Italian losing 6-3 6-2 to Paolo Carreno Busta.

Berrettini played a clay final last month against Casper Ruud in Gstaad, but was unable to make a decent start to his pre-US Open season.

with agencies

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