A-Game Blows Medvedev Away

With 'nothing to lose', world No. 64 Bonzi seals first top-10 Slam win

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LONDON - Daniil Medvedev found the roasting conditions and a French opponent who had not won a match on grass for three years too hot to handle on June 30, as the ninth seed suffered a 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 loss to Benjamin Bonzi in the Wimbledon first round.

The Russian, who reached the semi-finals at the All England Club in 2024, got all hot and bothered as the Frenchman brought out what he described as his "A-game" to dispatch the 2021 US Open champion on Court Two, which felt like an oven throughout the three-hour match.

With Medvedev desperate to preserve his 100 per cent record of reaching at least the second round at Wimbledon, he took out his frustrations on his racket, smashing it to the ground after Bonzi had got the better of him yet again in the third set.

But there was no respite for the former world No. 1.

"I was surprised by his level... there was not much I could do," Medvedev told reporters.

"Even when I played good shots today, he had an answer."

While spectators took shade under umbrellas, large-brimmed hats, newspapers and any other makeshift item they could grab to block out the burning sun, the only respite the players got was a 10-minute break at the end of the third set with Wimbledon's heat rule coming into force as the temperature soared above 32 deg C.