Nick Kyrgios extended his unbeaten streak with a three-set win (6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-2) over defending champion Daniil Medvedev at the National Bank Open on Wednesday.
Krygios won his seventh ATP Tour title last week in Washington. Russia’s Medvedev won last week in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Kyrgios lost the first set in a tiebreaker. The Australian had to dig deep and turn the match around with a backhand pass in the sixth game of the deciding set to break Medvedev.
In the second set, an early break of Medvedev’s serve proved crucial, as the Kyrgios continued to dominate and level the match. He broke the dejected Medvedev for the second time in a row before winning the match to love after exactly two hours.
“Today, I had a very clean objective of how I was going to play, a lot of serve and volley, a lot of aggressive play from the back,” Kyrgios said. “I executed better than he did. That’s all it comes down to. He won the first set, and I feel like I had opportunities there, as well. So, hopefully, I can just keep this rolling.”
“He played very well,” Medvedev commented on his defeat to No.13. “The only thing that was a shame for me is that I played him so early because he is fit. He’s among the top 10 or 15 players, so he will soon be a seeded player. It’s a shame to have such a player as an opponent in the first [match].”
Kyrgios, Medvedev’s meeting
The win was Kyrgios’ third in four meetings with Medvedev. That was Kyrgios’ second career win over a reigning world number one after his victory over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014.
“This is the fourth meeting we’ve had and I’ve had some success against him in the past,” said the Australian.
“But he’s beaten me before [as well]. I feel like we know each other’s games well. I’m not the type of player that goes into this match looking at rankings or anything like that, it’s just who I’m playing and what kind of ball they’re giving me.”
Kyrgios will now face fellow Australian Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals after his countryman defeated Bulgarian 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.
“Look, a grand slam is much, much different to any other tournament,” he said. “If I was in this position of a grand slam, you’ve still got to win another set and that’s not easy at all. He’s a machine.
“He’s the best player in the world for a reason and at a grand slam he’s a totally different beast.”
‘Be strong, Ma’
After the win, Kyrgios sent a touching message to his mother, who has been battling an illness for several years. “Be strong, Ma,” he wrote on the lens of a courtside camera.
Kyrgios revealed her mother, Norlaila, was “in the hospital” before Wednesday’s match.
“It’s difficult to be away from Australia right now. My mother is in the hospital, and my father has been ill,” he said.
“People only see me winning, losing, throwing a racquet. They do not really understand the challenges that we players face in our personal lives.”
Norlaila recently said that her “kidneys are very close to the end of their life”. She said she would receive a kidney transplant from her husband.