Nick Kyrgios beats world number one Daniil Medvedev to send US Open warning

Abraham Smith

Australian Nick Kyrgios defeated current world number one Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 6-2 at the Canadian Open on Wednesday (local time).

Both players came into the match in fine form, with Kyrgios winning the singles and doubles titles at the Citi Open in Washington, while Medvedev marked his return to the court with a title in Los Cabos, Mexico.

However, Kyrgios has played a lot more tennis in recent months after reaching the Wimbledon final in July – a tournament Medvedev was barred from playing due to a ban on Russian players.

In their Canadian Open clash, the Australian looked sharper from the start but failed to make the most of set points in the first set and had to pay Medvedev in the tie-break.

Kyrgios lost his cool when he gave up the first set but managed to regain his composure and easily outplayed Medvedev in the next two sets to progress to the round of 16.

The 27-year-old could have won the match more easily after converting just three out of eight break points, but Medvedev himself failed to break Kyrgios at all on his two chances.

The Australian has now won three out of four games against Medvedev and knew he always had a good chance despite the different placings.

“This is the fourth meeting we’ve had and I’ve had some successes against him in the past,” Kyrgios said after the game.

“But he’s hit me before. I feel like we know each other’s games well.

“I’m not the type of player to go into this game and look at the rankings or anything, it’s just who I’m playing against and what kind of ball they give me.

“Today I had a very clear goal of how I was going to play, lots of serve and volley, lots of aggressive play from behind.

“I played better than him, that’s what matters. He won the first set and I feel like I had chances there too so hopefully I can just keep going.”

Kyrgios will now meet fellow Australian Alex de Minaur in the next round of the Canadian Open on Thursday (local time).

The youngest Wimbledon finalist has now won 14 of his last 15 matches but faces another tough test at De Minaur.

The 23-year-old has beaten local heroes Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov at the tournament so far.

Kyrgios and De Minaur have never played each other at senior level but teamed up to win a doubles match at the ATP Cup in 2020.

Both players are finding form at the right time ahead of the US Open at the end of the month, with Kyrgios in particular looking like he could be a real contender.

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