Nick Kyrgios defeated world number one Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Montreal Masters on Wednesday when the top three seeds fell in the second round.
The Australian Wimbledon finalist beat Medvedev 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-2 to create the second disappointment of his career against a defending No. ambushed Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon 2014.
The underrated American Tommy Paul also came from one set down to send second seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain packing 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6- 3 while the unmarked Briton Jack Draper beat third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).
Kyrgios began a landslide war. The nimble Australian produced his usual on-field antics, complaining about a high bounce, hitting the ball into the stands to draw a warning and bickering with his players for moments. stress etching.
But after gathering his formidable resources, the 27-year-old, ranked 37th, finished Medvedev in exactly two hours.
Kyrgios said: “I don’t look at the rankings, just look at the man in front of me. “I had one goal today – to play more serves and volleys and do better.
“” Hopefully, I can continue this and keep winning. “
Both players are close to winning the weekend title, Kyrgios at the Washington 500 on Sunday and Medvedev at Los Cabos, Mexico, on Saturday.
Kyrgios won 14 of the last 15 to make it 29-7 for 2022. Medvedev lost his 11th in 2022, but reached the final at Los Cabos – where he lifted the trophy. first place of the season – he’s secured the number one spot in his US Open title defense later this month.
He was banned from Wimbledon because the tournament excluded Russian and Belarussian players due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Alcaraz, who like Medvedev enjoyed a bye in the first round, was no better in his opening match, with the teenager admitting the pressure was on him.
Alcaraz entered the event with two prestigious Masters 1000 titles from Miami and Madrid, and holds the record 42-7 this season.
“This is the first time I can’t stand the pressure,” Alcaraz said. “I felt the pressure (to be the number two and the number four seed in the world.
“It was the first time I felt this pressure.”
The youngster added: “I had my chance, I broke up in the second set. There is a chance to win the match.
“He played really well in difficult moments. He played great, and I wasn’t able to show my full potential.”
Comfortable tennis
34th-ranked Paul claimed victory with a volley winner after holding the Spaniard 5-2 down in the third set.
“It was great to end this game in the net,” said Paul, who scored 36 goals against Alcaraz: “I did a lot of good things today. “I played a good tennis, a comfortable tennis.”
Tsitsipas completed a losing hat-trick for the tournament’s elite players.
Draper, 20, claimed his first career win over a top 10 opponent as he reached the third round in just over two hours with five Tsitsipas serve breaks.
4th seed Casper Ruud got through the game safely, assisting in the early-season defeat to Alex Molcan with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over the Slovakian.
The Norwegian with three titles so far in 2022 had to try to win the opening set after skipping serve as he tried to close it 5-4.
However, he took his third place in consecutive sets for his 36th win of the season.
Elsewhere, Italian Jannik Sinner needed three sets to get past Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Alex de Minaur ranked an all-Australia Thursday match against Kyrgios by beating Grigor Dimitrov 7- 6 (7/4), 7-5.
