After upsetting top seed and World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev at the Canadian Open on Wednesday, Nick Kyrgios said that it was not the first time he beat a top-ranked player.
Fresh off a clean sweep (singles and doubles title) at the Citi Open in Washington DC, Kyrgios started slow against Medvedev, dropping the first set in a tiebreak. However, the Australian dropped only six more games en route to registering his 13th win in the last 14 matches.
Downplaying the significance of his win against the World No. 1, Kyrgios said that he has beaten Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic when they were the world's top-ranked player. So his victory over Medvedev wasn't a new experience for him.
In his press conference following his round of 32 win, the World No. 37 said that he's never short on confidence in big matches.
"You guys are acting like I haven't beaten world No. 1s before or something. Like, I've done it before. I've beaten Medvedev before. I've beaten Roger, Novak, Rafa. Like I feel like my confidence, and my belief in myself is never short. I could lose five matches in a row, and I still believe I have a chance to beat anyone," Kyrgios said.
"I didn't go out there thinking he was World No. 1" - Nick Kyrgios after beating Daniil Medvedev
Nick Kyrgios opened up on his mindset going into his clash against Daniil Medvedev, whom he had beaten twice in three previous meetings.
The Australian said that serving and volleying was key to disrupting the momentum of the top seed, adding that he also returned well.
"It was a tough match. I didn't go out there thinking that he was World No. 1," said Kyrgios. 'We played each other three times. He's beaten me once, I've beaten him twice. I knew he was feeling confident so I had to come out there with a game style that wasn't going to give him too much rhythm. I served and volleyed pretty much every point."
The Wimbledon finalist also expressed satisfaction with his performance on Wednesday despite squandering two set points in the first set,
"I've been serving well, volleying pretty well. I thought why not completely switch it up. I returned really well today, too. Had two set points in the first set. I was right there from the get-go. So I'm really happy with the way I performed," Kyrgios said.
As for breaking into the top-10 of the ATP rankings, Kyrgios said that he's taking it one match at a time
"It's just one match, though, in the scheme of things. That's tennis as well. This is not going to elevate my ranking into the top 10. It's just one match, so I need to get ready for the next one," he added.
If he goes all the way this week in Montreal, the Australian will return to the top 20 in the ATP rankings. Kyrgios will take on compatriot Alex de Minaur for a place in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open on Thursday