World no. 2 Daniil Medvedev managed to survive the heat of Tokyo as he beat Italy’s Fabio Fognini to enter the quarter finals of the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The 25-year-old took a medical timeout during his match against Fognini on Wednesday and even had to call his trainer more than once during the game.
It was Medvedev who was the first to appeal for a delayed start for tennis at the Olympics last week due to the hot and humid weather conditions. World no.1 and current Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic came in support of the Russian.
The world no. 2 Moscow born Medvedev revealed that he was struggling since the beginning of the match but somehow managed to win the game. “Even from the first set I didn’t feel good enough with my breathing. That’s why I called the physio, I felt like my diaphragm was blocked,” said the russian.
Medvedev also said he felt even worse during the second set and was struggling with his eyes. “And then on the second set, I just had darkness in my eyes, like between every point, I didn’t know what to do to feel better. Like I was bending over and I couldn’t get my breath together so I was ready to just fall down on the court”, further quotes Daniil.
The extreme heat could be a warning sign for most of the players from European continent as they are not used to playing in such tough weather conditions. It is not the first time that Tennis players have struggled against heat. The 2014 edition of Australian Open came under criticism as few players felt too much heat as Canada’s Frank Dancevic fainted on the pitch.
Even though he struggled like never before, Daniil Medvedev managed to win against Fognini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and is all set to face Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain who has won his round of 16 game against Germany’s Dominik Koepfer.
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