Daniil Medvedev blames Hurkacz loss on 'garbage balls' as Djokovic remains world No 1

Daniil Medvedev failed to take the chance to come out of the Sunshine Swing with the title of best male tennis player in the world after defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open. The Russian lost in straight sets to the defending champion, pointing to "garbage" tennis balls as part of the reason for his defeat.

His loss in the last eight of the competition follows on from a shock third round defeat at the Indian Wells Masters earlier this month. Both tournaments were winnable for Medvedev, as the top seed, but he was unable to launch much of an assault on either title.

It means a missed opportunity for the Russian, as his rival for the top spot in the rankings was absent for both competitions. Novak Djokovic cannot enter the US due to rules for unvaccinated travellers, but Medvedev could not take advantage of the Serbian being unable to score any ranking points over the two tournaments.

His defeat in the Miami quarter-finals on Thursday saw him come up against the defending champion and a man who has excelled on US soil during his career. Hurkacz was dominant once again, even if he did make some uncharacteristic mistakes, on the way to a 7-6(7), 6-3 victory.

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Medvedev was far less comfortable, as he appeared to struggle with the heat and humidity in Florida throughout the match. He was forced to take a brief medical timeout in the second set, and spent much of the rest of the match hunched over and clutching his left knee.

He also complained about the "garbage" balls that were being used in the competition. He is not the first to make such a complaint, after Rafael Nadal declared that the balls used at Indian Wells earlier