Caramba, failed again. Daniil Medvedev will wait to win a first title this season and will wait before becoming world number 1 again: physically weakened, he could not avoid Thursday’s defeat in the quarter-finals in Miami, against Hubert Hurkacz, last year’s winner . The 2nd in the world, finalist of the last Australian Open, lost 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 against the Pole (10th in the world), who will face on Friday the Spanish phenomenon Carlos Alcaraz (16th), scorer of the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (48th).
Only accession to the last four of this Masters 1000 would have allowed Medvedev to dislodge Novak Djokovic again. After a lost semi-final in Acapulco, against Rafael Nadal, already his executioner in Melbourne, and a surprise elimination in the 3rd round of Indian Wells against Gaël Monfils, this setback signals the end of a disappointing first quarter for Medvedev, however never as comfortable as on hard surfaces.
He has not regained his stratospheric level from the US Open six months ago, when, relentless in the final, he shattered Djokovic’s one-season Grand Slam dream, preventing him from breaking the record. the number of Majors won.
Dizziness, recourse to physiotherapy…
And he fell on the master of the place, determined to keep his title won last year against the Italian Jannik Sinner. In the tough physically, Medvedev remained eight minutes in the locker room after the loss of the first set. And it didn’t work out afterwards.
“Throughout the match, I was not at my best,” confirmed the Russian at a press conference. “After the difficult points, I had trouble catching my breath. I wasn’t recovering fast enough. Maybe it was the heat, but I was dizzy and there was a game where I couldn’t serve. Several times forced to lean on his racket, back bent, to recover after the exchanges, Medvedev called the physiotherapist, complaining of dizziness. Finally, Hurkacz won after a game of 2:03.