Australian Open: Daniil Medvedev ensures memorable press conference
After his final defeat at the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev held a memorable press conference - and did not spare criticism of the audience.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jan 30, 2022, 06:49 pm
Usually, the initial statement made by numerous tennis players at the press conferences is quite sparse - especially when they still have to deal with a bitter defeat. After the Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev decided on a slightly different path - and talked about the beginnings of his tennis career for almost five minutes.
The essence of Medvedev's lecture? "The child stopped dreaming today." Although he initially did not want to go into the following questions, it quickly became clear: The world number two from Moscow was very disappointed by the behavior of the spectators - and ultimately admitted this.
Medvedev rethinks
"That's disappointing, that's disrespectful," said Medvedev, especially in relation to the cheers of some spectators between the two serves. "It becomes more difficult to continue with tennis when this is the case," added the 25-year-old. From now on he will only play for himself, his family and his friends.
Medvedev also saw the reasons for the unequal distribution in the spectator stands in his origin. According to his perception, the audience would often oppose Russian players. Therefore, he will increasingly compete in his home country again in the future: "If there is a hard court tournament in Moscow before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, then I will play there, even if I miss Wimbledon or Roland Garros because of it."
Medvedev congratulates fairly
However, Medvedev left it open how long he would be able to be seen on the world's courts: "I don't know if I'll be playing after my 30th birthday."
At the same time, the second in the world rankings, who in all likelihood would have overtaken Novak Djokovic with a win in February, presented himself as an extremely fair loser: "What Rafa did today is incredible." Therefore, he would not mourn the missed victory too much.
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open
laver arena