"Didn't work": Daniil Medvedev defends serve from below at Tsitsipas match point
With his serve from below, the good Daniil Medvedev looked a bit stupid at the end of the match against Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, he did not want to call the attempt a mistake.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Jun 10, 2021, 06:45 am
"He's a fox." Says the layman. "His mind is very big. Very complex, like a computer. He has so many things that he can put together in a second." Says Francisca Dauzet. She is a sports psychologist, namely that of Daniil Medvedev .
6: 3, 7: 6 (3) and 6: 5, Tsitsipa's advantage stood on Tuesday evening when Medvedev put things together, presented his opponent with a serve from below and followed him to the net. His bad luck: The "serve" was far too high and too long, and Tsitsipas had smelled the roast. The Greek did not hesitate long, but pulled a humorless backhand past Medvedev - game, set, match and semifinals in Paris .
Medvedev: "He was too far back"
Gone stupid? Maybe. Medvedev, however, logically took up the matter afterwards. He had thought the entire match about using this punch on an important point. "Because in my opinion he was very far behind, something like that can always work," he explained.
In the current situation he felt that Tsitsipas was superior to him, "so I thought it would be good to try it now." He often serves from below in training, continues Medvedev, "and the boys are usually quite surprised. They only get the ball very deep and can only slice it, so I came to the net." But: "It really didn't work at all," he stated.
Tsitsipas: "Was ready"
However, he did not want to call his action a mistake. "It was tactical, I wouldn't say it was a mistake. I wanted to try. But I probably won't do it next time when I know he expects it."
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Alternatively, Medvedev should probably better hide his serve from below. Because Tsitsipas recognized him early, as he explained. Medvedev stopped briefly when he was moving, "I sensed that something was coming, and from then on I was ready," said Tsitsipas. He realized that Medvedev deviated a little from the norm. "And then I did what I had to do."