Reigning US Open champion Daniil Medvedev says his short trip back to the locker room after losing the third set to Nick Kyrgios helped him eventually prevail.
Despite being up against an amped-up Rod Laver Arena crowd, Medvedev was able to steady after dropping the third set to run out a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 4-6 6-2 winner to advance to the third round of the Australian Open.
The Russian disappeared to the locker room after losing the third set before returning to the court in an entirely new outfit and explained why he took the break.
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“They were trying to cheer him up,” Medvedev said. “They managed to do it.”
“He was playing pretty strong in the third set when he actually could’ve gone down mentally because it was two sets to love for me, I was playing pretty well.”
“The crowd tried to help him so I just went out to change and changed all my clothes to feel a little bit more fresh because I felt like I was missing this in the third set.
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“I just went out [in the fourth set] and was like, ‘Okay, I have to serve even better and try to return even better’, even if it was not so bad.”
Despite being visibly irritated by the fans during his on-court interview with Jim Courier after the match, Medvedev praised the crowd and the atmosphere inside Rod Laver Arena.
“I actually wrote ‘siuu’ in the camera afterwards because when Jim started talking about this, I was like, ‘Well, okay I’m going to write it then because everyone is doing it’,” he said.
“The only thing, between first and second serves, that’s where it’s tough. It’s not good for the game to do it because, people probably don’t know, but when you’re getting ready for the second serve, it’s a tough moment.
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“I think people should respect both players and just don’t talk in these moments.
“During the match it’s not easy to be there when the whole stadium is against you, but if you look at it on TV, I will after the tournament, I’m going to be like, ‘Wow that’s a great atmosphere for a tennis match’.”
After prevailing during a tougher-than-usual second-round opponent, Medvedev said the gruelling encounter would stand him in good stead moving forward.
“I think it’s really important because I can definitely say it’s an unlucky draw, a tough draw,” he said of the Kyrgios match-up.
“These kinds of matches in a first, second or third round of a slam, it’s a big challenge where if you make it through you feel like you can go far.
“It’s a big challenge where you can fail it and go home the next day, but I’m happy I passed this challenge.”