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Russia's Daniil Medvedev keeps calm during a break during his men's singles match against France's Terence Atmane on the second day of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, January 15, 2024. (Photo by WILLIAM) WEST/AFP)
At the Australian Open on Monday, Frenchman Terence Atmane slammed his racket and served underarm as he pushed third seed Daniil Medvedev hard, suffering severe cramps and crying. I retired while drifting.
The qualifier struggled in the scorching heat of Margaret Court Arena and overpowered the Russian to take the first set, but trailed 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0. I couldn't continue.
„The conditions were tough,“ said Medvedev, a two-time finalist at the tournament. „The more he (Atmane) plays with this intensity, the better he will be prepared.“
“I’m really happy to have passed,” he added. „I had a bad start in the first set, but I'm glad I was able to regain momentum.“
medvedev He broke at 2-1 in the first set and went up 5-3, but Medvedev missed a volley and a struggling Atmane leveled the score at 5-5.
The increasingly confident Frenchman held serve in his Grand Slam debut, broke again to take the set, and left the world No. 3 shaking his head in disbelief.
medvedev I woke up to reheat the second set before Atmane started having severe cramps.
Struggling to move, he resorted to under-serving, but broke his racket when he lost the serve, leaving him trailing 2-1 in the third set.
The 22-year-old was still in pain but continued to fight gamely, using a combination of armpit and upper arm serves, allowing Medvedev to take the third set.
However, after losing the first game of the fourth set, he was forced to retire, crying as the tournament ended.
Ahead of the match, Medvedev, who will face unseeded Emil Ruusbry of Finland in the next round, said he would try to „mature“ and reduce his „stupid things“ on court in order to shed his reputation as a tennis villain. He said he was there.
The Russian is used to verbal abuse and meltdowns on the court, which creates a love-hate relationship with fans.
He was well behaved with the atmanes, but complained about the water bottles.
Medvedev lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 Melbourne final and a year later to Rafael Nadal, which led to a slump in form.
But he has since bounced back and won 66 games last season, more than any other player on tour.