The conditions haven’t been easy for players at the Shanghai Masters, with many complaining about the sweltering conditions on the Asian swing of the ATP Tour. It got so bad earlier in the week that Holger Rune called on the powers that be to introduce a ‘heat rule’, which would prevent play from taking place if the conditions became too hostile.
Rune went on to ask – tongue somewhat in cheek – if the objective was for a “player to die on court”, with temperatures in the high thirties and the humidity hovering around the 80 per cent mark. But one tennis ace has been “happy” his rivals are suffering, given it’s a problem he faces at most tournaments around the world.
Daniil Medvedev joked that seeing his competitors face difficulties with the humidity was a welcome sight, as he’s been known to struggle when the humidity was as low as 30 per cent. But that didn’t stop the Russian from falling into a sticky situation during his round-of-16 victory over Learner Tien on Wednesday.
That’s because Medvedev was spotted rather bizarrely asking one of the ball girls to remove his shirt for him, as the sweat had proved too unbearable. During a changeover, he asked the umpire: “Sorry, can I ask the ball girl to remove my shirt? I’m cramping here. I need to change my shirt.”
To save the ball girl from a no doubt awkward situation, ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong volunteered his services instead. He was able to detach the shirt from Medvedev’s sweat-drenched skin, with the tennis ace able to continue playing thereafter.
It appeared to work the trick for Medvedev, as he regained his composure to secure a gutsy 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-1), 4-6 over the talented American. Medvedev will continue what has been an impressive Asian swing for him on Friday when he takes on Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final.
Commenting after the win, Medvedev said: “I think the toughest part was that we played two times [before], and in my opinion, he is an unbelievable player, because he doesn’t have a great serve and serve is so important in tennis.
“Without the serve, he is 19 years old and 30-something in the world and only going up. In my opinion he is such a good tennis player. He feels the game so well. There are so many guys right now that just hit strong with every ball they have, and they have an amazing serve which allows them to stay in the tennis match. He doesn’t have it, and he manages to play so good without it. For me to beat him… I thought I was going to lose. I was cramping again and I’m just super happy to manage to do it.”
