The new Kyrgios, less evil but more impactful, struck again, this time beating world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-2. After his final at Wimbledon and his title in Washington, the Australian still wants more. Sober, and very hard-hitting in his serve and volley line to upset a Russian placed very far on the return, he was very impressive in a match of 1h58 where he will never have been broken, with two break points to save in start of the third round.
He could have cracked after the loss of the first set after a very bad tie-break (the only time he got a little annoyed), when he got two set points at 5- 4 saved on two service winners by Medvedev. At the start of the match where everything often boiled down to a service battle, the 90% of points won on the first ball were not enough for the Australian.
But the new Kyrgios, therefore, does not let himself be beaten by so little and started the second set by taking the service of the Russian while leading his boat rather easily in this round, during a raised meeting, but without showing off.
14 wins in their last 15 matches
In the third set, down 1-0, the Australian on course to be seeded at the US Open had to face his only two break points in a seven-minute extended game. A new service and volley, on a wire, then a winning service, moved away the threat. We thought in the hard against Medvedev perhaps more physically equipped. But the “devil” had the resource, impeccable at the net, to hold in the dense rallies, and to allow himself the eccentricity of a point won after a service under the spoon.
And in this game, it was Medvedev who ended up cracking, losing his face-off twice consecutively by committing a few blunders. Eight years after his victory over Nadal at Wimbledon, Kyrgios offers himself a world No. Here he is with 14 wins in his last fifteen matches.