Russia’s Medvedev overcomes breathing problem to beat Italian player

Russian Tennis player Daniil Medvedev had trouble breathing on Wednesday due to extremely hot weather in Tokyo during his singles match against Italian player Fabio Fognini. He battled through to the quarter-finals of the Olympics staying on the course for a heavyweight competition against Novak Djokovic.

The two-time Grand Slam runner-up defeated Fabio Fognini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a last-eight meeting with Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta at Ariake Tennis Park. 

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Medvedev found the temperature testing as the extreme weather policy was implemented, due to which he urged to delay the start times after his opening match.

He said that he didn’t feel good enough with his breathing, he felt like his diaphragm was blocked and couldn’t breathe properly. Medvedev took a medical timeout and received visits from the trainer.

During the second set, when asked if he was OK by the umpire, Medvedev replied, “I can finish the match, but I can die. If I die, are you going to be responsible?”

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He added, “I think it was the most humid day we had so far, maybe the hottest. The sun was pretty hot. At the end of the second set, I just had darkness in my eyes. I was bending over, and I couldn’t get my breathing together. I was ready to just fall down on the court”

After the 10-minute interval between the second and third sets, Medvedev defeated Fognini and won the first three games of the decider. He saved three break points at 4-2, before winning the two hours and 25 minutes games.