Daniil Medvedev advances when Alex Michelsen retires 10 minutes into Indian Wells match
Prior to his match on Stadium Court on Sunday, broadcasters noted that American Alex Michelsen was suffering from a stomach virus and would not play against Daniil Medvedev.
The 20-year-old decided to give it a try, but the match didn’t last long. Michelsen retired from the match with Medvedev leading 2-0 in the first set of their Round of 32 match at the BNP Paribas Open.
Medvedev, the fifth seed in the draw, will advance to play 10th seeded Tommy Paul in the Round of 16 on Tuesday. Medvedev and Paul met in the semifinals last year at Indian Wells.
“Bad luck. That’s where this is brutal because it’s an individual sport,” said Medvedev, who added that he could tell that Michelsen wasn’t feeling well when they were together in the stadium tunnel prior to their match.
“In team sports they would replace him for one match, no problem, but tennis doesn’t work like this,” Medvedev added.
As a result of the match ending early, the Holger Rune versus Ugo Humbert match that was slated for Stadium 4 was moved to Stadium Court.
Medvedev is vying to reach his third consecutive final at Indian Wells. He lost in the final the last two years to Carlos Alcaraz.
At this tournament, Michelsen was seeded for the first time at a Masters 1000 event. Sunday was his first time playing on Stadium Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
This was Michelsen’s second time in the main draw at the BNP Paribas Open. The Laguna Hills, California native lost to Paul in the second round a year ago, after beating Jaume Munar of Spain.
Michelsen won the singles and doubles title at the 2022 Easter Bowl, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, becoming the first American to win both since Donald Young in 2006.
[This story has been updated to add new information.]
Medvedev is vying to reach his third consecutive final at Indian Wells.
Indian Wells star retires 10 minutes into match after bizarre nosebleed delay
Daniil Medvedev’s match against Alex Michelsen was cut drastically short when the American retired after going 0-2 down. There was a bizarre start to the tie when, just six minutes in, play was paused as Medvedev started having a nosebleed. Both players headed to their benches while the No. 5 seed saw the physio.
However, it was Michelsen who was looking ropey during the delay. Play resumed but, just minutes later, the 31st seed approached the net and decided to call it quits. Medvedev later relayed that his opponent was likely suffering from food poisoning.
Medvedev was serving at 1-0 15-0 when he suddenly started marching to his bench, alerting the umpire that his nose was bleeding. The 29-year-old said he needed “three, four, five minutes” and asked for a napkin to stuff up his nose before the physio was called to the court.
“Medvedev gets immediate attention from Pierre, the very experienced tour physio, as he has a nosebleed,” commentator Jonathan Overend said on Sky Sports, branding it the “most peculiar” start to the match.
Miles Maclagan added: “Not much you can do about that. For some people it’s just the dry air, isn’t it? I think I remember this happening to Medvedev before. He’ll just take a couple of minutes. He didn’t seem completely surprised by it.”
Play resumed a few minutes later and, when cameras cut back to the action, the commentators noticed Michelsen looked under-the-weather during the break.
Just in British lucky loser checked out of hotel before biggest win in Indian Wells
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“What was quite interesting there, during the treatment for Medvedev, you spotted Miles, the camera cutting to Michelsen who was slumped forward in his chair,” Overend remarked.
“That might be a suggestion that he is not feeling well. That might explain the way he played the first game.”
Maclagan, who is one of Andy Murray’s old coaches, replied: “It just might, and it was just his body language as well, we sort of half-joked, the big sigh after five points which is not exactly positive.”
Medvedev held serve, clearly unbothered by his nosebleed, and Michelsen played one more point, hitting a double fault before giving up.
“I think he’s giving up, I think this is an early reitrement from Alex Michelsen. And that is not going to go down well with the crowd,” Overend exclaimed.
“But it was the most bizarre couple of games from the talented young American, who has clearly got nothing to offer here and clearly not feeling well, not well enough to continue the match beyond two games and one point. The irony of it is, it’s Medvedev who has received the visit from the tour trainer in the middle of that! I mean, poor guy.”
It’s a disappointing early end to Michelsen’s run in Indian Wells. The American was seeded at a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time and would have enjoyed the chance to test himself against two-time finalist Medvedev.
After the abrupt end, Medvedev addressed the crowd and admitted he was also excited to face the 31st seed. “I played a very good first round so I was looking forward to playing Alex. I like the way he plays. I think it could be an interesting match,” the former world No. 1 said.
“Unfortunate for him to get food poisoning or something like this. In team sports you get another guy replacing you. In individual sports, if you don’t feel good that day, there’s nothing to do. Hope he feels better soon. Looking forward to my next match.”
Medvedev will now face another American, 10th seed Tommy Paul, in a mouthwatering round of 16 clash.
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