We all are familiar with the adverse playing conditions at the ‘Sunshine Double’. Players have to counter extreme wind and sand in Indian Wells and heat and humidity in Miami to win the coveted prize. The job is made all the more difficult by playing back-to-back matches within a compact schedule. Further, Hubert Hurkacz toppled Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the quarterfinal in Miami, thereby crashing his hopes of regaining the World No.1 spot in ATP rankings this week.

The Polish star, who is the defending champion in Miami, continued his winning streak in Miami by defeating Medvedev 7-6 (7), 6-3 in just over two hours. Moreover, it proved to be a difficult encounter for the US Open champion after suffering from cramps during the match. Additionally, it was made all the more difficult by the quality of balls used in the tournament.

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Daniil Medvedev slams the balls used at Miami Open 2022

During a changeover, Medvedev looked straight into the camera and said, “Never ever advise anybody to buy this ball, it’s a piece of garbage, you’re just gonna lose your money.”

Further, the 26-year-old found it difficult going right from the very beginning. Hurkacz broke Medvedev’s serve in the second game of the first set. However, the Australian Open runner-up showed glimpses of a comeback, when he broke Hurkacz’s serve in the ninth game of the opening set. With the set eventually proceeding into the tie-breaker, the Polish star won points at crucial junctures to clinch the first set.

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Hurkacz carried the momentum into the second set where he broke Medvedev’s serve in the fifth game. There was no looking back for Hurkacz as he eventually went on to win the set 6-3. In the semifinals, he’ll take on fast-rising Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz.

Rafael Nadal wasn’t happy with the balls either

During the post-match interview at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Rafael Nadal too vented out his frustrations at the balls used in the tournament. He said, “Ball is not 100% fair on the strings, you have to accept that, lot of other players hit double faults here.. yesterday, I made double faults in important moments, not today, they didn’t make a difference at all.. Not the amount of the double faults but when you hit them.”

Further, he added, “I feel that this kind of ball, we know that since long time ago no with this kind of ball that is not a ball that you feel a lot. When the ball is on the string is a ball that sometimes you feel like in a stun on the string. Comparing to other balls that you have the feeling that you can manage the ball.”

Explaining how he found shot-making difficult with these balls, Nadal said, “It’s difficult to explain for me but I tell you one simple thing to understand what happens with this ball with me. I played well with this ball I win tournaments of course with this ball but is a ball that sometimes I hit the ball and I don’t know why the ball goes out or why the ball goes in. I don’t have that immediate feeling on the racket than comparing with another ball that I have.”

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While Nadal skipped the Miami Open, Medvedev had another disappointing result after the Indian Wells debacle. However, on his least favorite surface, he will need to dig deep to engineer a strong comeback on red dirt.