Montreal Masters 2022: Daniil Medvedev vs. Nick Kyrgios Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Montreal Open as Daniil Medvedev takes on Nick Kyrgios in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, August 10th, 2022.

Will Daniil Medvedev kick off his title defense with a very hard first opponent? Will Nick Kyrgios pull off a massive upset and add on to his incredible streak? This will be a fascinating one, where the World No. 1 faces off against one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour right now. Who will triumph and move on to the Round of 16 at the 2022 Montreal Open?

Daniil Medvedev is coming off an all-important title run in Los Cabos, winning 8 straight sets and finishing it off with a bagel over Norrie. He’ll be feeling really good as he heads into Montreal as the defending champion and title favorite. The slow conditions will be very helpful to him against a majority of the field, especially Nick Kyrgios, a brutal first round opponent but someone who Medvedev definitely has the tools to beat, especially with the court speed in his advantage. Medvedev hasn’t faced a server quite like Nick lately, but his returning position will be quite advantageous for him, unless Kyrgios really ramps up the aggression and rushes the net. Either way, at some point in the match I expect Medvedev to do what few other guys can and that is to break the Australian’s serve and get over a tall first hurdle as he looks to get his title defense off to a good start at the 2022 Montreal Open.

Nick Kyrgios is coming off a title win himself, winning in Washington for a 2nd time in his career, and following it up with a win over Sebastian Baez, 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. Considering his form and what his rankings should be had Wimbledon points been accounted for, it’s a really unfortunate draw for him. Kyrgios has the weapons and aggression to defeat Medvedev, and we’ve seen it before, but on these conditions, with Medvedev’s physical condition likely to be much better than that of Kyrgios, I don’t see any other outcome than Medvedev taking this exciting contest in the end as the two square off for a spot in the Round of 16 at the 2022 Montreal Open.

Daniil Medvedev and Nick Kyrgios have met three times before, with Nick Kyrgios leading the head to head 2-1. Kyrgios took their first 2 meetings, once on the clay and in the 2019 Washington Open final. Granted, Medvedev is now a far superior player, and he did get Kyrgios’ number this season in the Australian Open on a fast hard court, but those matches could help Kyrgios. He’s only been getting better and I think the adrenaline of the match will make him dangerous. In the end though, with Medvedev serving and returning much better than what Kyrgios has faced lately, in addition to the slow conditions which will really allow Medvedev to dig in and grind out Kyrgios’ aggressive tactics, I expect him to grab this win and make a statement that he’s ready to defend his title here at the 2022 Montreal Open.