WATCH: Daniil Medvedev annoyed by slow court during sweet 16 win – ‘I’m gonna pee as slow as this court is’

ATP Tour
Daniil Medvedev in action

Daniil Medvedev notched up his 16th consecutive win on the ATP Tour, but he didn’t have it all his own way and he was particularly unimpressed by the slowness of the court in California.

The former world No 1 is the form player on the Tour as he arrived at the Indian Wells Open on the back of winning the Rotterdam Open, Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships – all in straight sets.

And he kept his streak going when he defeated Brandon Nakashima in two sets in the second round before adding another win to the tally with victory over Ilya Ivashka on Sunday – although his set streak was ended at 18 as he won 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

“[In the] second set I don’t feel like I was playing bad,” Medvedev said after the match. “It’s just that you hit 10 good shots in the rally and it could be not enough. That’s tough.”

But the 2021 US Open champion was unimpressed by the slowness of Court 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden and had a chat with the chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani when he decided to take a comfort break.

“I’m gonna pee as slow as this court is. So you can take 25 minutes. The court is slow so I go slow, I take my time,” he told the official.

Lahyani replied: “You have to accept this, you’re professional.”

But Medvedev was not happy, saying: “I don’t accept this. They say on the fact sheet this is hard courts. This is not hard courts.”

After breaking twice to take the first set, Medvedev looked like he would run away with it after getting another break in the opening game of the second set. However, the world No 85 got back on serve in the next game and then claimed a second break in game eight to take it to a decider.

Medvedev, though, raced into a 5-0 lead before Ivashka saved three match points in game six, but the fifth seed eventually served it out.

READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev: ‘I’m scared to play Rafael Nadal on clay’

Up next is Alexander Zverev after the German defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.

“I think our match could be a lot of rallies. Let’s see. It’s going to be interesting,” Medvedev said of his upcoming clash against the 12th seed.

“I feel like he’s playing better and better, which is normal after a tough injury. He’s someone who was one of the best players on Tour, going kind of close to world No 1, started playing better and better in Grand Slams.

“His injury was unfortunate but I’m sure he’s going to come back. Hopefully next match I can be the winner and I can play some good tennis.”

The biggest upset on Sunday came from qualifier Cristian Garin as the Chilean defeated third seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) and his reward is a fourth-round clash against 23rd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after the Spaniard beat 13th seed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

There were also wins for sixth seed Andrey Rublev, 10th seed Cameron Norrie and 14th seed Frances Tiafoe.

Alexander Zverev Daniil Medvedev Ilya Ivashka

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