Nick Kyrgios ‘stunning’ in win over Daniil Medvedev and will be tough to stop at US Open, says Alex Corretja

Kyrgios ended Medvedev’s reign with a supreme display and now faces Karen Khachanov next for a place in the semi-finals in New York.

Medvedev will lose his No. 1 ranking as a result of the defeat, while Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios looks well placed once more to reach the final of a Grand Slam.

“I have to say that win from Nick Kyrgios was stunning, I think he surprised the whole tennis world by the way he played and the consistency he had,” Corretja said.

“We expected a very tight match, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to sustain that level for the whole match but he did and he impressed me unbelievably because he played huge tennis, he was brilliant, he was aggressive – he was just putting on so much pressure on the return.”

Kyrgios and Khachanov are tied 1-1 in their head to head, with the latter winning their first encounter in Cincinnati in 2019.

The pair then played at the Australian Open in 2020, with Kyrgios battling through in five sets after the final four sets all went to a tie-break.

Looking ahead to their third meeting, two-time Grand Slam finalist Corretja believes Kyrgios could be difficult to stop.

“I think Kyrgios opens up the tournament a lot right now facing off against Khachanov, who of course played an unbelievable match against Pablo Carreno Busta,” said Corretja.

“But the way Nick played tonight proved that he is ready to do big things. Of course, now might be the toughest part, to stay away from all of the expectations, I think he just wants to focus on doubles now and get away from everything.

“I assume that if he is ready to play the way he did tonight then it is going to be very difficult – Khachanov has a different game to Medvedev – from backhand to backhand he can push him a lot, but it will be key if he can serve well as well.

“It will be a very open match, but if Kyrgios plays this way it will not be very easy to stop him.”

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