Sure, it’s true that Daniil Medvedev is temperamental and produces wildly inconsistent results. And yes, he evokes a wide array of emotions depending on the situation and his audience. Amusement, bemusement, anger, righteous indignation, and occasional annoyance are all part of the standard fan experience. He’s a walking highlight reel, but unlike other players for whom such antics seem orchestrated for dramatic effect, in Medvedev’s case they kind of just happen.
Of course, there isn’t room in this entry to detail every notable moment, but I’ll catalog a few of my favorites:
L2 + Left Dead Fish: There was his reaction to winning his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2021 over Novak Djokovic, who was going for the calendar-yea Grand Slam. Med won in straight sets and provided the iconic (?) Dead Fish celebration, certainly the most stunted major title reaction of all time:
Alves Wishing Well: His 2017 loss to Ruben Bemelmans at Wimbledon, where he spent a contentious match arguing with Mariana Alves over line calls going against him. He tried to have her removed unsuccessfully. After the match, he pulled coins out of his wallet and tossed them at the base of her chair.
The Small Cat: And my personal favorite, his…altercation (?) or monologue (?) with chair umpire Jaume Campistol at the 2022 Australian Open after taking exception to alleged on-court coaching by Stefanos Tsitsipas’ father (still illegal at the time). “Are you stupid??? HIS FATHER CAN TALK EVERY POINT???!” Medvedev raged for a while, won the match (despite Apostolos Tsitsipas’ talking transgressions), and when the match was over, he opined that “It should be a code violation. If you don’t you are a….how you call it….small cat.” Snort. A small cat.
And now he has gifted us another gem today in Rotterdam — raging about the HEAD tennis balls in use at the tournament and at one point determining that they aren’t round. He dropped some f-bombs, karate-kicked the back wall, and told the tournament official to hurry up because he had a flight to catch.
Then the piece de resistance: “These balls are made for people who like to please…. People who love to please with just a little saliva. Just a little.”
I admit it. I had to watch this a couple times to convince myself I heard what I heard. I might have said out loud “Did he just say SALIVA?” Yes. The answer is yes. He said saliva. He also lost to Ugo Humbert of France. I imagine the ATP will want to fine him, but just like with the small cat encounter, it’s difficult to prove that he meant anything offensive — with the operative word being “prove” since I am 100 percent certain he meant exactly what you think he meant.
Love him or hate him, you simply cannot deny that he’s entertaining — even when he’s losing. Maybe MOSTLY when he’s losing.
dude is unhinged
😂 The write-up! 😂
He’s often out of line. The ball thing though sounded like he was philosophising and possibly on mushrooms, or is that included in their drug testing? Not performance-enhancing but probably verboten anyway. Anyway, Medvedev on Mushrooms. That’s my theory.😜
Other players complained about the balls apparently.
Same for everyone
I actually believe that the balls were compromised. Multiple players have had various complaints with balls in the past couple years.
The notable part is the “people who like to please with saliva”. 😀
people are losing it in Rotterdam, not just Med
I took that he was calling certain people obsequious, not sure who, the tournament organisers maybe
He should have been comedian
I’ve said this before, but it still amazes me that the one-time heir apparent big 3 of Medvedev, Zverev & Tsitsipas have 1 (one!) slam among them, with the increasing likelihood it will end up like that
Yeah, even more , they all been in winning positions in those Slam finals..more than once