(In Pictures) Daniil Medvedev Hilariously Recreates ‘Dead Fish’ Celebration During Qatar Open Match

Daniil Medvedev, who is chasing his second title of the season, beat Shang Juncheng in the first round of the Qatar Open.

(In Pictures) Daniil Medvedev Hilariously Recreates ‘Dead Fish’ Celebration During Qatar Open Match

Daniil Medvedev (Image via X/Daniil Medvedev)

In Short
  • Daniil Medvedev humorously recreated his 'dead fish' celebration during a match at the Qatar Open.
  • He defeated Shang Juncheng 6-4, 6-2, improving his head-to-head record to 1-0.
  • Medvedev expressed his thoughts on the varying court conditions in Doha before his match.

Remember how Daniil Medvedev celebrated right after his shock straight-set win over Novak Djokovic in the 2021 US Open final? He fell on the court on his side like a ‘dead fish’.

After the win, he said only “legends” would understand his flop. Well, those who never played FIFA on PlayStation are the non-legends, as what Medvedev did was L2+left celebration.

Medvedev once again pulled off the celebration, this time during his first-round match at the Qatar Open against Shang Juncheng, whom he later defeated 6-4, 6-2, and improved his head-to-head record to 1-0.

Check out the picture here:

Prior to arriving in Doha, Medvedev featured in three tournaments in the 2026 season. He lifted the Brisbane International by defeating Brandon Nakashima, in what was also his 22nd tour-level title in 22 different cities.

The 2021 US Open champion later fell in the fourth round of the Australian Open against Learner Tien and suffered a first-round exit at the Rotterdam Open. Medvedev is a former champion in Doha, having won the title back in 2023 against Andy Murray.

Daniil Medvedev shares his opinion about the Qatar Open courts

Before entering the court for his first-round match, Daniil Medvedev had a practice session with second seed Jannik Sinner. Later during his interview with Tennis TV, Medvedev made his feelings known about the conditions of the Doha courts.

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev (Image via X/TENNISCentel)

I think it’s very different in countries like this, in the desert, let’s call it, from the day to the night. During the day, it’s kind of fast. You can feel the court, actually, being super slow, but during the day, because it’s still hot, it goes quick. It’s not easy to break. But at night it is a completely different story. On this slow court, there are a lot of rallies. I think you can break a lot of times, maybe lose your serve sometimes. So it depends on when you play.

Medvedev has so far lifted just four ATP 500 titles, the last of which he won at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships against Andrey Rublev. The last time he made a final at this level was at the 2025 Halle Open, losing the match to Alexander Bublik.

I was practicing yesterday on Center Court, and there was a tiny bit of wind, and then we went outside, and we could not hit one ball because it is so windy. The wind itself is not a problem. It’s the adaptation from Center Court straight away to the other one. It was not easy. So yeah, it depends which court you play on, but look, there’s wind everywhere in the world, so you just need to adapt.

Daniil Medvedev added

Last year, Medvedev ended his trophy drought by defeating Corentin Moutet, winning his first title since the 2023 Italian Open.

Daniil Medvedev will play Indian Wells doubles with Learner Tien

The doubles list for the 2026 Indian Wells is out. And it did not take long for the fans to spot a surprising pair of Medvedev and Tien.

Learner Tien (2)
Learner Tien (Image via X/Game, Set & Talk)

Before sending Medvedev packing in the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open in straight sets, the two had played three marathon matches last year. It was the 23-year-old who knocked the former World No.1 out of the second round of the Australian Open.

Later in the semifinals of the China Open, Medvedev was forced to throw in the towel in the third set. The Russian got his revenge in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters. Tien, who won last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, is currently participating in the Delray Beach Open.

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