Medvedev feeling confident after latest title as he shifts focus to NBO title defence

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Medvedev held court with reporters during a 15-minute availability before continuing preparations for his title defence at the Masters 1000 tournament.

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He enters the competition on a roll after winning in Mexico over the weekend. Medvedev didn’t lose a set over the week en route to claiming his 14th career ATP-level crown.

“Feeling 100 per cent physically (and I’m) mentally ready,” Medvedev said. “Really happy with Los Cabos for sure with the title. Looking forward to here, trying to get some good matches.”

Medvedev, who competes under a neutral flag, could face Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Kyrgios, who jumped 26 spots to No. 37 in this week’s rankings, was scheduled to open against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.

World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal is one of many young stars who are seeded for the US$6.53-million tournament. Others include Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Norway’s Casper Ruud and Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

Rafael Nadal withdrew on the eve of the tournament due to an abdominal injury. The rest of the so-called Big Three — Roger Federer (knee) and Novak Djokovic (unvaccinated) — were also absent.

“It doesn’t change much if they’re here or not because my goal is to win the tournament,” Medvedev said. “So no matter who I play … if it’s going to be a qualifier or wild card, lucky loser, second seed, I just want to win the match.”

A first-round match between Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka and Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori finally began on centre court some four hours after the scheduled noon Eastern Time start.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was scheduled to play Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the evening feature although showers were in the forecast. Wild-card entries Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., and Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., are also in the 56-player field.

Auger-Aliassime has a first-round bye as the No. 6 seed and likely won’t play his opening match until Wednesday. Pospisil was slated to play his opening doubles match with Sinner later Monday. 

The singles field includes 41 of the top 44 players in the men’s rankings. The event returns to full capacity this year for the first time since 2019. 

Robert Bedard was the last Canadian to win this tournament, taking the 1958 title in Vancouver. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2022. 

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press