Daniil Medvedev Defeats Feliciano Lopez Amidst the Booing Crowd at US Open 2019

World No.5, Daniil Medvedev rallied past through Feliciano Lopez in four sets 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 and pushes through to the round four of the US Open 2019 on Friday.

Set 1

Feliciano Lopez struggled in his opening service game of the match as he saved a breakpoint and held the game. The set was leveled up until Feliciano Lopez shifted gears and broke Daniil Medvedev to take a lead of 5-3. However, the Spaniard was broken while serving for the opening set as Medvedev fought back.

Medvedev lost an opportunity to break Feliciano Lopez at 6-5 and the set then went on to the tiebreaker as both the players held their serve till 6-6. The Russian dominated the one-sided tiebreaker to claim the first set 7-6(1) after 65 minutes.

Medvedev also received an unsportsmanlike code of conduct in the first set after he angrily snatched a towel out of the ball man’s hands. Subsequently, he threw his racquet on the court after he received the code of violation.

The Russian was also seen showing the middle finger to the crowd. After the replay was showed up in the big screen at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, the chair umpire, Damien Dumusois called up Medvedev and said, “Daniil, can we talk? I cannot give you a code because of what I saw on the screen. I have to see it myself.” Subsequently, the crowd in the Armstrong stadium started to boo Medvedev.

Set 2

Feliciano Lopez didn’t let the breakpoint opportunity slip from his hands as he broke Daniil Medvedev in the first game of the second set. The 23-year-old couldn’t break Felciano Lopez as the Spaniard leveled back match at 1-1, winning the second set 6-4.

Set 3

The third set was quite an equal one as both the players held their serves to take the set to the tiebreaker. Unlike the first set tiebreaker, the third set tiebreaker was a close one as there was hard to differentiate between the two. However, it was Feliciano Lopez, who blinked first as Medvedev claimed the tiebreaker 9-7.

Set 4

Daniil Medvedev took the momentum to the fourth set as he broke Lopez in the 5th game to take a crucial lead of 3-2. The Russian earned a chance to get the double break up at 4-2 but couldn’t grab the opportunity. Daniil Medvedev served out for the match as he won the set 6-4.

In the post-match on-court interview, Daniil Medvedev encouraged the crowd to continue booing him as he suggested that he was tired but because of all the drama on the court and then the criticism from the audience gave him the energy to win the match.

He said, “Thank you all guys because your energy tonight give me the win. Because if you were not here guys, I would probably lose the match because I was so tired.”