Olympia: Daniil Medvedev - "Playing under these conditions is a joke"
Daniil Medvedev made a successful start in the Olympic Games. However, immediately afterwards, the Russian knew how to be angry about the conditions during his first round match.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jul 25, 2021, 09:47 am
It was a somewhat uncomfortable challenge that the Russian world number two Daniil Medvedev blossomed right at the start of the tennis tournament of the Olympic Games. Medvedev had to deal with the Kazakh trickster Alexander Bublik - and had his tightrope act between genius and madness completely under control for long stretches of the game. The logical consequence: Medvedev bought his second round ticket in two sentences.
However, Medvedev was more troubled by the sweltering heat in the Japanese capital that day than his opponent. So much so that the 25-year-old immediately expressed his displeasure after progressing: "I think they should do it like in Mexico. The games should start at 6:00 pm. The heat on the pitch was unbelievable today", declared the Russian. "Playing under these conditions is a joke."
"195 would say it's crazy"
Medvedev was by no means alone in his opinion, however, as he emphasized: "I think if you ask 200 tennis players here, 195 or more will say that it is really crazy to play at these times. It should be played later." The Russian is convinced that one has to be upset about what happened today.
After his opening win against Hugo Dellien, Novak Djokovic also emphasized that he had his problems with the heat in Japan. Much more than with his opponent, whom the industry leader easily dealt with in two sentences. Despite his angry speech against the schedule, Medvedev finally focused on the essentials: "I know that we are going to take part in the Olympics and that we are here to fight for the medals."