Daniil Medvedev withdraws from Kremlin Cup citing exhaustion

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev has pulled out of the Kremlin Cup citing mental and physical exhaustion. The tournament is being played out in Moscow and Medvedev announced in a press conference that he will be withdrawing from the tournament. The Russian has played in six straight tournaments and has played in the finals of all six of them. 

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'Cannot play if I'm not 100% ready'

At the press conference, he said, "Nobody knew that I would do so well in Shanghai to reach my sixth final in a row. I just feel that I am physically and mentally exhausted. I can’t be 100%. As a professional, I cannot step on court, knowing, that I am not 100% ready to play! On the one hand, it is very sad, because I really wanted to play in Moscow in front of my home crowd. I’ve played for 4 years in a row in Moscow and each year my results improved. But on the other hand, this is how it is. It is a professional sport, and I must do what is best for my body. In this situation I had no choice."

The press conference was attended by a number of senior members of the Russian tennis association and tournament directors, and Medvedev's decision was supported by the authorities. Shamil Tarpischev, President of the Russian Tennis Federation and chairman of VTB Kremlin Cup board of directors said, "We’ve discussed it [with Daniil Medvedev], and, of course, I fully support Daniil [Medvedev]. I myself was a professional athlete, I understand it. I would have made the same decision myself. You must avoid injuries. And this is, apparently, the most important thing."

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Dream run

In his previous tournament, Medvedev defeated Alexander Zverev in the Shanghai Open, which was his sixth straight finals. His run began with the finals at the Citi Open, Coupe Rogers, Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati Open), US Open, St. Petersburg Open and the Shanghai Masters. He won the Cincinnati Open, St. Petersburg Open and the Shanghai Masters. Medvedev is currently ranked fourth in the world, behind the big three of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

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