'Worst Surface for Me': Daniil Medvedev Hates on Clay Court Again as He Loses in Italian Open

Daniil Medvedev lost his cool at the clay court once again as he expressed his displeasure with the surface during his second round loss at the Italian Open to fellow Russian Aslan Karatsev. Medvedev was completely out of his elements at the clay once more as he lost 2-6, 4-6 against his countrymate. Medvedev has time and again said that he is not at all comfortable on the clay. A couple of days ago, even women’s singles world No.2 Naomi Osaka also admitted that clay was not the surface she liked very much.

Medvedev had lost the first set and when he was broken in the second, he sat on the bench courtside and muttered to himself, “It’s the worst surface in the world for me. But if you like to be in the dirt like a dog, I don’t judge.”

Following that, the Russian lost a couple of more points and turned to tournament supervisor Gerry Armstrong, who was sitting courtside. “Gerry, please default me, it would be better for everybody,” he said.

All this while, Medvedev’s fellow Russian and good friend Andrey Rublev was seen sitting in the stands and laughing at the meltdown. Earlier, Rublev, seventh seed, advanced past Germany Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4.

THIEM BATTLES INTO 3RD ROUND

Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem rallied from a set down to battle past Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics into the third round of the ATP Italian Open on Wednesday.

US Open champion Thiem, a semi-finalist in Madrid last week, won 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 in 2hr 33min against 44th-ranked Fucsovics in the clay-court tournament which acts as a warm-up for the French Open.

Thiem, twice a runner-up at Roland Garros, will next play Italian Lorenzo Sonego who beat wildcard Gianluca Mager 6-4, 6-4, in a match in front of spectators, with 25 percent capacity allowed at the Foro Italico after the early rounds were played behind closed doors.

“It was tough the whole match. I was struggling with the timing a little bit,” said Thiem.

“I was fighting a lot with myself but kept fighting from the first to the last point. That paid off today, and I’m super happy about it.”

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany eased past Bolivian Hugo Dellien 6-2, 6-2 to set up a third round meeting with Japan’s Kei Nishikori.

(With AFP inputs)

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