Dimitrov stuns US Open champion Medvedev
INDIAN WELLS: Reigning US Open champion Daniil Medvedev joined the growing list of top seed casualties at the ATP/WTA Indian Wells on Wednesday, losing in the fourth round to world No.28 Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Medvedev, who won his first Grand Slam title last month at Flushing Meadows, had not lost a set heading into the fourth round but dropped eight straight games, and had his serve broken six times against Dimitrov, en route to a stunning early exit for the top seed. “I don’t remember myself losing three service games, even four service games ever on hard courts,” Medvedev said. “That shows how slow this court is and the conditions, more like clay, which I don’t like. To lose four times the serve is just unacceptable. That’s why I lost the (second) set.”
World No.2 Medvedev did not take a break after his emotional US Open victory and said his busy schedule may have finally caught up with him. “I did feel exhausted in this tournament. Now I can say it. I couldn’t say it before my matches. There are a few physical things that have come up,” said Medvedev, who is hoping to eventually overtake world No.1 Novak Djokovic.
Medvedev won the first set, was up 4-1 in the second and appeared to be cruising to another easy victory when the wheels came off: his unforced errors mounted and service game fell flat. Medvedev had no answers for the way Dimitrov was playing and predicted the Bulgarian would likely go on to capture the title. “If he plays like this, like the way he played me from 4-1, then he is going to win the tournament,” Medvedev said. “He played the second half of the match better than anyone did against me at the US Open. It is not like I gave him the match.”
Injury-hit Nadal unclear when he’ll play again
Rafa Nadal said he still does not know when he will play tennis again as he works to complete his recovery from a recurring foot injury that cut short his 2021 season.
The 20 times major winner, who struggled with back issues at the start of this year before pulling out of Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics, last played in August at the Citi Open in Washington.
He announced ahead of the US Open that the injury to his left foot would rule him out for the rest of the year. “I want to recover from this injury in good condition,” the 35-year-old Spaniard, currently ranked sixth, said on Wednesday on Mallorca, his home island. “I don’t know when I will play again, I work a lot every day, I follow a specific plan with a marked roadmap. There are always things that I can’t control 100% but inside my head I’m clear on what my objectives are and I trust that things will follow a positive course.”