Nick Kyrgios earned his second career win over a world No 1 as he came from a set down to dispatch Daniil Medvedev 6-7(2) 6-4 6-2 at the National Bank Open in Montreal. The Wimbledon finalist needed an hour and 59 minutes to upset last year’s champion, winning his eighth match in a row following his title win in Washington last week.
Kyrgios and Medvedev were facing off for the fourth time in their careers, with both men in red-hot form after winning titles last week in Washington and Los Cabos respectively. They couldn’t be separated in the first nine games, as the duo flew through their service games and needed just 24 minutes to get to 5-4.
It was the world No 37 ho pounced first, coming from 15-40 down to set up two set points on the top seed’s serve. After a rapid start to the match, the world No 1 needed six minutes to hold on and managed to get to deuce on the Kyrgios serve for the first time in the match in the following game, but both men held on to force a tiebreak.
The Russian raced ahead as Kyrgios could be heard complaining about the bounce of the ball, and the recent Wimbledon finalist received a code violation for smashing the ball out of the stands as he went 1-6 down. The 27-year-old saved the first set point but dumped the ball into the net on the second as Medvedev took the opener 7-6(2) in 48 minutes.
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But it was Kyrgios who suddenly stole the momentum at the start of the second, breaking his opponent immediately to take a 2-0 lead. The break proved crucial, as both men continued to hold until the world No 37 served it out 6-4 to force a decider.
The Aussie saved two break points in his opening service game in the third set, and managed to create a break point from 15-40 down on the Medvedev serve at 2-2. The first one was saved, but Kyrgios set up a second and converted as he fired the ball to the top seed who couldn’t do anything but place it in the net.
He consolidated the break with a 55-second service hold to lead 4-2 and put himself within two games of the match, and Medvedev seemed to go away as Kyrgios received three more break points in the next game, and he took the third to serve for the match against the top seed. And he closed it out to love, sending the defending champion packing to book his spot in the third round.
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