Nick Kyrgios thinks one particular Daniil Medvedev act is a great example of how players feel about playing tennis late in the year as the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up slammed the schedule as “absurd.”
At one point during his opening match at the ATP Finals, the Russian tennis star turned his backwards while awaiting to return Taylor Fritz’s serve. After the crowd started booing, he returned it to a normal position but still went on to lose in straight sets.
Daniil Medvedev© YouTube screenshot
Over the last two years, Medvedev has regularly criticized the tennis schedule but also the constant ball changes and also surfaces.
“Did you guys see how Medvedev was behaving at the end of the year. Like, someone like that, who’s tennis orientated his whole life, and he’s just writhe, by the end he was returning with the other side of the racket. The tennis schedule is absurd. If you really think about it, and you have guys like Medvedev doing that type of stuff,” Kyrgios said on the Nothing Major podcast.
Kyrgios stunned by Alex de Minaur’s schedule
After the first month of the season ends, the majority of tournaments take place in Europe in the rest of the year. That makes it extremely tough for Australian players to visit their home.
In 2024, de Minaur appeared in more than 20 events and posted a 47-21 record – his last tournament was the ATP Finals. The world No. 9 may have had a big season but for Kyrgios it was something he would never do.
“Someone like de Minaur, the dude plays all year round. He’s never home like he never comes home. I don’t know how he does it, I don’t know how these guys do it but I’m convinced that’s why the Aussies have lost their marbles there,” the 29-year-old said.
Meanwhile, Kyrgios’ post-surgery comeback starts at the Brisbane International in late December.
Tennis World USA