Tennis star Daniil Medvedev admitted he uses 'illegal' streams to watch the US Open because his hotel doesn't have ESPN access

• Daniil Medvedev is through to the quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open.
• The world No. 3 has struggled to watch other matches at his hotel because of a Spectrum blackout.

NEW YORK — Daniil Medvedev just wants to watch some tennis.

The world No. 3 is competing at this year's US Open — where he won his first Grand Slam in 2021. But when he's not on the court in Flushing Meadows, Medvedev wants to tune in for some of the other matches taking place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

There's only one problem: his hotel isn't showing the tournament.

"I guess in a lot of hotels they have Spectrum," Medvedev said in his post-match press conference Monday. "I cannot watch it on TV anymore."

The cable provider is currently in a standoff with Disney — the parent company of ESPN, which has exclusive broadcast rights to the tournament — over their failure to negotiate terms on a new agreement. Until the two sides agree to a new deal, channels that fall under the Disney umbrella will not be available to Spectrum customers.

But Medvedev isn't willing to miss the US Open matches he wants to watch due to the feud. He said he'll "have to find a way."

"I will, I don't know if it's legal or illegal, … but I got internet, these pirate websites, so I watch tennis there," the 27-year-old said with a smirk. "I have no other choice."

Coco Gauff said she's in a similar position; the 19-year-old American, who advanced to the US Open semifinals Tuesday, hinted during her post-match press conference that she's also staying at a hotel in New York where watching the tournament on cable is not an option.

"I'm not going to get into it," Gauff said with a laugh. "But we can't watch ESPN in our hotel."