Melbourne (AFP) – This time title contender, Daniil Medvedev, pulled the crowd at the Australian Open to his side.

The tennis runner-up joked after entering the Sovereign into the round of 16 in Melbourne: “Every good relationship has to have its ups and downs. I hope there are more good times than bad times, otherwise it won’t work.” . The occasional US Open champion won in a ratio of 6:4, 6:4, 6:2 against Dutchman Boutique Van de Zandschulp. He’s one step closer to the title in his first Grand Slam of the season.

“Let’s put it this way: it is easier to play a Dutch player in Australia than it is to play an Australian,” the 25-year-old Russian told the audience. His statements have a history: before he lost the world number 57 in the third round. Van de Zandschulp of the tournament, he had defeated Australian favorite Nick Kyrgios.

In an on-court interview, last year’s finalist complained about the noise between his first and second serve and blithely said that some fans “may have a low IQ”. Hoping the audience would treat him better this time, he said, “I don’t have a feeling anything was right last night. Of course they support Nick, I’m not stupid.” Only the inconveniences during transmission would have bothered him.

difficult relationship

The relationship between Medvedev and the public was often difficult on the tennis tour. Especially in the US Open 2019, messing with the spectators. “I’d love to come to Australia,” Medvedev said. “I feel like people here generally support me. So I think there’s been a lot of success with the Australian public.”

In the absence of world number one Novak Djokovic, Medvedev is one of the big favorites to win the title in his first Grand Slam of the season. Second in the world rankings, he is the highest rated player. After his first Grand Slam victory at the US Open, he could immediately follow him for the second time. In September, Medvedev blew up Serbian star Djokovic’s historic chance to win all four Grand Slams in one year.

Strong performance in New York

In New York, Medvedev lost only one set in the entire tournament – in the quarter-finals against Van de Zandschulp. Then the Dutchman achieved a surprising series of victories as a qualifier. This time Medvedev did not allow the world number 57, who defeated Sauerland’s Jan-Lennard Struve in the first round, to win a set. The best Russian player has now won 10 consecutive Grand Slam matches. In the fight for a place in the quarter-finals in Melbourne, he has to deal with American Maxime Creasy. “Of course I don’t want to stop in the fourth round,” the rider explained last year.

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