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Medvedev feels confident after latest title as he shifts focus to defending NBO title

MONTREAL –

The wet weather left many tennis players in unsettled form on Monday afternoon at the National Bank Open. Defending champion Daniil Medvedev has no such problem.

It’s one of the perks of being the top men’s singles player in the world. Medvedev bids farewell to the first round as the top seed and likely won’t play his opening game at IGA Stadium until Wednesday.

“I’ll have two days of good training and after the start of the tournament,” he said. “Of course, I’m hungry for victories.”

Unlike many of his ATP Tour colleagues, who were stuck waiting to see when the rain would stop, the confident Russian star can take comfort in knowing he just has to tinker with his training schedule.

Medvedev appeared in court with reporters for 15 minutes getting ready before continuing to prepare for his title defense at the Masters 1000 tournament.

He entered the competition quickly after his win in Mexico over the weekend. Medvedev hasn’t lost a set at the tournament en route to his 14th career ATP championship.

“Feel 100% physically (and I’m) ready mentally,” Medvedev said. “Really happy with Los Cabos definitely with the title. Looking forward to being here, trying to get some good games.”

Medvedev, who competes under the neutral flag, could face Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Kyrgios, who jumped 26 places to 37th in this week’s rankings, is expected to open with Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.

World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal is one of many young stars seeded for the $6.53 million tournament. Others include Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Casper Ruud of Norway and Jannik Sinner of Italy.

Rafael Nadal withdrew before the tournament due to an abdominal injury. The rest of the so-called Big Three – Roger Federer (knee) and Novak Djokovic (unvaccinated) – are also absent.

“It doesn’t change much if they are here or not because my goal is to win the tournament,” Medvedev said. “So no matter who I play ΓǪ against if it’s qualifiers or wild cards, lucky loser, second seed, I just want to win the match.”

Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori defeated Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a match that started four hours after the originally scheduled start time.

In other early matches, Jenson Brooksby of the USA beat Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-3 and Karen Khachanov of Russia overcame Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina by a score of 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6 -3. Alex Molcan of Slovakia defeated Mackenzie McDonald of America 7-6 (1), 6-4.

Rain returned later in the day, forcing a halt to all evening matches.

Australia’s Alex de Minaur led 7-5, 6-6 against Denis Shapovalov in Richmond Hill, Ont., as the clouds opened. They split the first six points in the second game.

Organizers then postponed the suspended matches until Tuesday. The match was scheduled to resume at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, an hour earlier than usual.

Wild card entries Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, BC and Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., are also in the 56-player field.

Auger-Aliassime bids farewell to the first round as the sixth seed and will most likely not play the opening match until Wednesday. Pospisil was scheduled to play the opening doubles match against Sinner on Monday but it has since been rescheduled.

The singles field includes 41 of the 44 top men’s rankings. The event returned to full capacity this year for the first time since 2019.

Robert Bedard was the last Canadian to win the tournament, winning the 1958 title in Vancouver.


This Canadian Press report was first published on August 8, 2022

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