There was not a single Russian left in the individual Olympic tennis tournament. If Roman Safiullin's defeat to the current Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz was expected, then Daniil Medvedev's failure in the match with Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was an unpleasant surprise.
After Jannik Sinner, who topped the ATP rankings, withdrew from the tournament, Medvedev received the fourth seed. This significantly eased Daniil's tournament path. Until the semi-finals, where a meeting with Alcaraz was possible, and even the final with a possible confrontation with Novak Djokovic, the opponents were quite passable for Medvedev. It is no secret that the clay on which Roland Garros is held is considered Daniil's least favorite surface.
Only he had long ago decided that he would participate in «Roland Garros-2», as the Olympic tournament is called, and he was purposefully preparing for it. Even the participation in doubles and mixed doubles imposed by sponsors did not take much effort. Both with Roman Safiullin and in pairs with Mirra Andreeva, Medvedev lost his matches in the first round. But he passed two rounds in singles with more than confidence.
First, he dealt with the Australian with Japanese roots Rinki Hijikata. He is, of course, considered a specialist in doubles, but Medvedev's play on clay left a pleasant impression. As did the tennis shown in the second round, where the Russian's opponent was the Austrian Sebastian Ofner, who occupies 55th place in the ranking. After the end of this meeting, Medvedev, however, criticized the organizers.
The match against Ofner was scheduled as the last round, and it ended quite late, and the third round game was scheduled for 14.45 Paris time. But Medvedev did not leave much strength on the court in the match with the Austrian. He dealt with his opponent in a little over an hour.
In the third round, the Russian faced the 13th seeded Canadian Auger-Aliassime, currently ranked 19th in the world. He was considered a comfortable opponent for Medvedev. Daniil had won all seven previous matches. True, all on hard, his favorite surface. However, for the Canadian, hard is his favorite surface, and clay is his least favorite. Felix won all five titles at ATP tournaments on hard. He did not get past the fourth round at Roland Garros, although he was at least in the quarterfinals at all other Grand Slam tournaments, and even in the semifinals at the US Open.
At first, the Olympic tournament match was an equal fight. The opponents took their serves quite easily, and in the eighth game, Auger-Aliassime earned a triple break point and converted it on the first try. Such gifts should not be given to an opponent at any tournament, and especially not at the Olympic one. The Canadian confidently served for the set, putting Medvedev in a difficult position.
In the second set, already in the first game, Auger-Aliassime earned a break point, three times the referees recorded «exactly», but the Russian tennis player managed to take his serve. The Canadian also had a break point in the third game, but Medvedev again held his serve. Medvedev was unable to get a hold of the opponent's. It came down to a tie-break.
Many people call the shortened game a tennis penalty. This is both true and false. There is simply no margin for error in the tie-break, and in this way it resembles the post-match penalties in football. Medvedev made a double fault at 4:4, giving his opponent a great chance to finish the match in his favor. And Auger-Aliassime took advantage of it.
ATP Summer OlympicsATP Summer OlympicsJuly 31, 2024 • starts at 16:45CompletedFelix Auger-AliassimeCanada2 : 06:37:6Daniil MedvedevRussia
Daniil's Olympic dream will have to be postponed until Los Angeles, where the tennis tournament will be held on hard courts. Three years ago, Medvedev failed to show his worth in Tokyo. The President of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev, explained this by Daniil's absence from the centralized training camp of Russian tennis players before the 2020 Olympics. At that time, Daniil was busy applying for a visa. There was no training camp this time, but Medvedev planned his Olympic preparations himself. And, alas, the result was not what Russian tennis fans would have liked.
And now only the pair Mirra Andreeva/Diana Schneider continue to perform in Paris. They are playing in this combination for the first time and were not even able to properly train before going out on the courts of Roland Garros due to Andreeva's late arrival in the French capital. Well, there is no point in drawing far-reaching conclusions from Medvedev's defeat.
For tennis players, unlike representatives of many sports, the Olympics are far from the most important tournament in life. The «Grand Slams» are rated higher. Daniil fulfilled his obligations to the French sponsors and can now calmly go to the US Open Series, where there is an opportunity to earn both ranking points and good prize money.
Свежие комментарии