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Kyrgios beats Medvedev, Alcaraz and Tsitsipas ousted


By AFP
Published : 11 Aug 2022 08:51 PM | Updated : 11 Aug 2022 08:53 PM

Nicholas Kyrgios rallied to topple world No 1 Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Montreal Masters Wednesday as the top three seeds tumbled in the second round.

Australia's Wimbledon finalist beat Medvedev 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-2 to produce his second career upset of a reigning No 1 after ambushing Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2014.

Unseeded American Tommy Paul also came from a set down to send second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain packing 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 while unseeded Briton Jack Draper beat third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).

Kyrgios started the landslide.

The mercurial Aussie produced his usual on-court antics, complaining about a high bounce, hitting a ball into the stands to draw a warning and bickering with his player box in moments of tension.

But after gathering his formidable resources, the 27-year old ranked 37th finished off Medvedev in exactly two hours.

"I don't go in looking at the rankings, just the guy in front of me," Kyrgios said.

"I had a clean objective today - play a lot of serve and volley and execute better.

""Hopefully I can keep this rolling and keep on winning."

Both players were coming off weekend title wins, Kyrgios at the Washington 500 Sunday and Medvedev at Los Cabos, Mexico, Saturday.

Kyrgios has won 14 of his last 15 matches to improve to 29-7 for 2022.

Medvedev lost for the 11th time in 2022, but by reaching the final at Los Cabos - where he lifted his first trophy of the season - he is assured of taking the No 1 ranking into his US Open title defense later this month.

He was barred from Wimbledon as the tournament excluded Russian and Belarussian players over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Alcaraz, who like Medvedev enjoyed a first-round bye, fared no better in his opening match, with the teenager admitting pressure got to him.

Alcaraz came into the event with two prestige Masters 1000 titles from Miami and Madrid and holding a 42-7 record this season.

"It was the first time that I couldn't handle the pressure," Alcaraz said.