Daniil Medvedev explains his task: "Couldn't have played Finale"
Daniil Medvedev caused a curious situation when he gave up against Novak Djokovic at the Astana ATP 500 event. Now the Russian has talked about the background. And worried about when the 26-year-old can be back on the pitch.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Oct 09, 2022, 07:35 pm
Nobody really realized it at first. Not even Novak Djokovic. He stood a few moments after Daniil Medvedev shook his hand after losing the second set and said goodbye to the dressing room, incredulous during the on-court interview and in the final. Instead of going into a decisive sentence in a hard-fought duel with the Russian.
Now the 26-year-old has cleared up the background to his task: "It's the second time in my life that I've had to give up with a muscle strain," said Medvedev after the semifinals. "By the second point of the tie-breaker, I felt a strange popping in my adductors. At first I thought maybe it was a cramp, but after the point I was like, `No, probably not a cramp.'"
Medvedev and the question of fairness?
It quickly became clear to the Russian that he would not be able to play a third set. "In the tie-break, I felt like I could still play five, ten points, but that's it. If I play one more set, you can do it, but you can maybe miss half a year instead of a month," he said Medvedev, who therefore decided to give up after the delicate loss of a sentence.
Another reason for discussion was whether it would have been fair if Medvedev had reached the final. Because the Russian could not have denied this: "I actually have no idea what is fair," said Medvedev. "If I win I wouldn't play the final. I thought 'ok, I'll just try to get some shots'. If I manage to win then there's nothing I can do, I'll pull out for the final. "
What if he loses? "Then congratulations to Novak, he's still in top form. Good luck to him in the final." It is now unclear how long Daniil Medvedev will have to pause due to this injury. And with it also how the chances are for the US Open winner from 2021 to appear at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. These are supposed to start in two weeks, on October 24th.