‘Sweet Revenge’ as Daniil Medvedev does Stefanos Tsitsipas jig after beating the Greek in the Rome semifinal

The Russian won 7-5, 7-5 in the end. However, what caught the eye was Medvedev's small jig after his win.

‘Sweet Revenge’ as Daniil Medvedev does Stefanos Tsitsipas jig after beating the Greek in the Rome semifinal

Daniil Medvedev (Image via Daily Express)

The athletes are human, after all. They have their own small moments of celebration. Victories aren’t really that common in any sport. One can always get stuck in the spiral of losing. So a few antics of celebration are more than welcome.

Celebrations, though, are of various styles. It can be playing a guitar, salsa dance, signaling something to the crowd, a small jump even. Players of any sport would wait for their victory to do some sort of celebration.

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What makes it more interesting is players remember what their opponent had done previously after winning. They look to do it and take some sweet revenge after their victory. Something similar took place in the Italian Open semifinal. Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas went head on. The Russian won 7-5, 7-5 in the end. However, what caught the eye was Medvedev’s small jig after his win.

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Tsitsipas had done a similar jig after defeating Medvedev last year in Cincinnati. It was Medvedev’s turn this time around. A win would allow him to do that, and he was not going to leave any opportunity. When asked about his dance and its similarity to the one Tsitsipas did, the Russian said, “Yeah, you know, I don’t dance a lot after I win, but sometimes it happens. I was just really happy with the win.”

Medvedev continued,“This dance, when I saw it, they showed me, I saw it on one TV like almost straight after. I was like, This looks ridiculous. But when I’m going to see it in a year or maybe in a month, I’m going to be like, That’s memories. That’s memories. That’s fun. I went into my first Masters final, so I was just feeling great. But, yeah, it doesn’t mean I’m going to dance after every match.”

It’s been an amazing week for the Russian so far. For him, the win will certainly be more important than the dance.

Related: Casper Ruud thinks the medical timeout by Holger Rune has helped him during the Rome Semi-final

‘A long day’ for Medvedev and Tsitsipas in rain-affected semi-final

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev (Image via ATP Tour)

It wasn’t an easy semi-final for both players. What made it tougher was the uninvited rain. The players had to be on and off and that certainly affected the momentum. When asked about the whole match in his Press Conference, Medvedev said, “I think the schedule was good. Just rain was not heavy enough to say, okay, we postpone the match for two hours, but heavy enough to not let us play. I warmed up probably 5-6 times.”

The math is done and if Medvedev wins the final, he will jump up to no. 2 in the rankings. When asked about the importance of rankings, Medvedev said, “It’s great to go up the rankings. Like when I became No. 12 in the world, I was disappointed. I was top 10 for some time. I didn’t play well enough, so I dropped out of top 10. Tough, not easy feeling. At the same time I knew that if you get the titles, you going to get back into the top 10. That’s what I managed to do.”

Medvedev will play Holger Rune next who has shown remarkable consistency this year. The 20-year-old Danish will not be just a pushover. Medvedev was also asked about the Rune battle. “Well, I said after I lost to him in Monte-Carlo, I think he’s one of top players on clay court. I think that’s the surface that suits him the most. We know he can play on other surfaces, also. He won Bercy. I think that’s, let’s say, his favorite surface.”

It’s going to be a cracker of a contest as two tough competitors will go head to head. Who is eventually going to lift Rome? Let’s wait and watch.

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