TOKYO -- He was exhausted before he served. Between points, he rests on his racket. On changeovers, he is reaching for the rubber tube that blows cool air. Two medical timeouts were taken and one trainer visited the Ariake Tennis Park. Daniil Medvedev was so ill from the oppressive heat and humidity during Wednesday's Olympic men's tennis tournament, that Carlos Ramos, the chair umpire, asked him to stop playing.Medvedev responded, "I can finish this match, but I can die." Medvedev replied, "If I die, will you be responsible?"Medvedev later stated that he felt "darkness in his eyes".The ROC player said, "I didn’t know what I could do to feel better." "I was ready just to fall on the court."The second-seeded Medvedev won a 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini (Italy) to reach the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics.Paula Badosa, a Spanish player, was less fortunate. After suffering heatstroke, she was forced to leave the court in a wheelchair.Badosa had to also withdraw from a later mixed doubles match with Pablo Carreno Busta.Vondrousova, a Czech player, won the first set, 6-3. Now she's in the semifinals and will move on to the medal round.The temperature rose to 88°F (31 degrees Celsius) after some rain the day before, but the heat index made the temperature feel like a sweltering 99 degrees F (33.7 degrees C).These problems raised questions about why organizers didn't grant Medvedev's and other players' requests earlier in tournament, including Novak Djokovic, to move all the tennis matches at Games to the evening.Organisers stated immediately after Medvedev's victory that they were "considering" the possibility of playing the matches on Thursday.Third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece was far from his best, losing 2-6, 7-6(4), and 6-2 to Ugo Humbert of France. The 12th-seeded Karen Khachanov from ROC defeated eighth-seeded Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 6-1, 2-6 (4), 6-1.It was a fight to see who could resist more. We were like "The Walking Dead ,''' Schwartzman" after 10 to 12 groundstrokes, referring specifically to the TV series.Kei Nishikori, Japan's Olympic champion, reached his third consecutive quarterfinal, beating Ilya Ivashka, Belarus 7-6 (7) and 6-0. Djokovic of Serbia or Alejandro Davidovich (16th) will be Nishikori’s quarterfinal opponents. They were both playing later.Daniil Medvedev was treated and had his chest massaged while he was up 5-2 in the second set. After being down 5-2 in the first set, he took a medical timeout. He was still trailing 3-2 in the second. He said, "I felt like I had a blockage in my diaphragm." "I couldn’t breathe properly. RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA–EFEDjokovic will play twice Wednesday. In the first round of mixed doubles, he will be playing alongside his Serbian partner Nina Stojanovic and Luisa Stephani from Brazil.Djokovic, a singles player, is trying to be the first man to win a Golden Slam by winning all four Grand Slam Tournaments and Olympic Gold in the same year.Djokovic won the Australian, French and Wimbledon Opens this year. He now needs the Tokyo Games title as well as the U.S. Open trophy for his unique collection.Elina Svitolina, fourth-seeded from Ukraine, will play Vondrousova in the semifinals. She beat Camila Giorgi, Italy, 6-4, 6-4.Svitolina, who was married to Gael Monfils in France before he flew to Tokyo, has had a busy month. Monfils, who had been eliminated from the doubles and singles tournaments, was sitting at courtside watching his bride.They were married on July 16, but they delayed their honeymoon until November when the tennis season is over.After Ash Barty (No. 1), Svitolina is still the top-seeded singles player. 2 Osaka, No. 3 Aryna Sabahlenka lost in the previous rounds.Ninth-seeded Belinda Bencic defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from ROC 6-03-63, 6-3Pavlyuchenkova will face either Garbine Muguruza, Spain (7th), or Elena Rybakina (15th) in the semifinals.Barty lost in doubles to Storm Sanders, her Australian partner. They were defeated by Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova, the Czech top-seeded pair, 3-6, 6-1, 10-7.Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury, a British partner, lost men's doubles to Marin Cilic of Croatia and Ivan Dodig from Croatia 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-7. Murray, the two-time gold medalist in singles and defending champion, pulled out of that competition due to a right quad strain.Medvedev was taken to the hospital for medical attention. He had his chest massaged at 5-2 in the first set. However, he held his serve in game two to win it. After being trailing 4-3 in his second set, he took another medical timeout.Medvedev stated that he felt like his diaphragm was blocked. "I couldn’t breathe properly. It was probably the hottest and most humid day that we have ever had.Medvedev was so suffering that he took his time between points. This drew protests by Fognini.Between the second and third sets, both players were permitted to leave the court for a period of 10 minutes.Medvedev claimed that he took a cold, freezing shower during the break. However, the sudden temperature change put Medvedev into shock and caused him cramps.Medvedev held a lead of 5-2 in the third. A trainer came onto the court to massage his left arm, and thigh.Fognini was furious at the end of the match and slammed his racket on the court. He then took the racket off the court and put it in a trash can.Medvedev, if he's feeling up to it, will next play sixth-seeded Carreno Busta. He beat Dominik Koepfer from Germany 7-6 (7) and 6-3.
