Daniil Medvedev was forced to retire in the 2024 Madrid Open quarter-final after losing the opening set to Jiri Lehecka.
This was supposed to be a very good match between two players who have played really well. The Russian was favoured to beat Lehecka, but the Czech player played solid tennis and took the opening set 6-4.
The first few games of the match went by in an orderly fashion as neither player was really able to put any kind of pressure on the opponent. Medvedev started to struggle as the set progressed.
He had to fight off the first break points at 3-3 in the first set but was able to do so successfully. In the next service game, he ran into issues once more, but this time around, the Czech player was able to break and take a 5-4 lead.
He would then easily hold the serve to win the opening set 6-4. But it wasn’t an ordinary set, as Medvedev had problems with his movement, so he consulted the physio for a right groin issue.
Medvedev looked very concerned about what he felt, telling the physio: “I’m feeling a bit better. But I’m so, so scared.” Medvedev also told the physio that he couldn’t move, which was worrying.
Unfortunately, after giving it a go and trying to run a bit, the Russian signaled to the umpire and Lehecka that he wouldn’t be able to continue. It was terrible timing for Medvedev to get injured because he’s the defending champion in the Italian Open in Rome, which starts next week.
Lehecka, on the other hand, reached his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, and he was happy about it, despite his opponent’s retirement.
“It’s never easy to win a match like this. If I could choose how to win this match it wouldn’t be like that. Never easy to see your opponent struggling. At that moment you just need to focus on yourself.. trying to get the maximum level out of yourself.”
“You never know what kind of injury it is, if he’s just feeling unwell or it’s something bad. If you give him space to recover it can be bad for you. I tried to focus on myself.. as we saw at the end of the first set he was clearly struggling with the movement… bad luck for him.”
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