London [UK], July 10 : Daniil Medvedev stormed into the quarterfinals at the ongoing Wimbledon 2023 for the first time when Czech Jiri Lehecka was forced to retire at the end of the second set of the pair's fourth-round clash due to injury on Monday.
The third seed, who is competing at The Championships for the fifth time, had a 6-4, 6-2 advantage over Lehecka on Court 1 when the 21-year-old retired. With his 80-minute victory, Medvedev claimed his 45th triumph of the year, which is a Tour record.
"I honestly did not know until he retired. I mean, I saw that his movement was a little bit restricted, but the way he struck the ball, I thought it was not going to cause him [too much] trouble. But when he retired, I was like, 'OK, I see it's different'. Unfortunately during a match, you don't have any other choice than to fight for every point, because of how many times it happened, even with me, that you think you are injured and then you win one game, one break, and get back into the match. You think, 'OK, maybe I should continue playing', and then you win the match," ATP.com quoted Medvedev as saying.
"You have to fight until the last point, and of course, I feel sorry for Jiri because in the fourth round of Wimbledon, to get hurt, is not easy. Hopefully, he can recover fast and of course he has a lot more Grand Slams to come ahead of him," the World No. 3 said.
He will continue his quest in London against American Christopher Eubanks.
The two sets were played in long baseline exchanges as they were their first time meeting. Lehecka accurately timed the ball and attempted to pin Medvedev back with his depth, but the World No. 3 made few mistakes and displayed powerful serving, winning 97 per cent (28/29) of the points after his initial delivery.
"The thing is, it's probably my fifth or sixth Wimbledon, and I've not been very successful, but I've never lost on this court. I feel sorry that probably in the quarter-finals, I'm going to play on the centre. I'm like, 'Can I just continue here? I love it, I've never lost so far here'. I'm really happy and looking forward to the next match, I'm going to give 100 per cent," Medvedev said.
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