Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas feud still fresh as video of ignoring each other goes viral
Daniil Medvedev defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at their semi-finals clash in the Italian Open.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev( Credits: Hellas Posts English and Eurosport)
Daniil Medvedev defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets at their rain-delayed semi-finals match. The World No.3 will be making his first Rome final’s appearance, after his semi-finals victory in one hour and forty-seven minutes. As both the players clashed for the first time in the year, their video of ‘totally’ ignoring each other has proven their strong ongoing rivalry, even off-court.
With the start of the clay tours, the Russian performed fairly well on the surface. He reached the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo and fared till the round of 16 in Madrid. At the Italian Open, Medvedev has played an incredible tennis to reach his maiden clay court ATP 1000 final match. He will be facing a challenge from the Danish player, Holger Rune, for the championship trophy. During his post-match interview, Medvedev said that in spite of the rain struggles, he was quite enjoying his game on the court.
“I enjoyed playing today. It was very tough with the rain delay, I warmed up like six or seven times, but actually sometimes it can throw you off, you can be a little bit angry [about] the situation. Today, I don’t know why, I was just kind of laughing,” he said.
With constant interruption from rain, the 27-year-old still managed to seal his semi-finals victory. However, at the end of the match, Tsitsipas and Medvedev had a frosty exchange at the net. Their on-court feud reached the off-court premises after they were seen avoiding each other as they cross paths.
Their ongoing feud can be traced back to their first meeting at the Miami Open in 2018. The controversy rose after Medvedev complained about the mid-match toilet break of the Greece player. The situation further worsened after Tsitsipas didn’t apologize when the ball clipped the net and he was awarded the point. In the end, the players were seen having a heated exchange as they hurled abuses at each other. Looking at their ATP Head2Head, the Australian Open finalist leads the match-winning record by 8-4 over Tsitsipas.
Medvedev earlier won the Miami Open title, after his straight sets triumph over Jannik Sinner. He also faced defeat at the hands of Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Indian Wells Masters.
Daniil Medvedev’s thoughts on Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from the Roland Garros
Daniil Medvedev has performed extremely well in this year’s clay season. Regardless of his dislike of clay surface, the Russian reached the quarter-finals in Monte-Carlo and round of 16 in Madrid. With attaining the Rome final spot, the World No.3 will be playing his ninth ATP Masters 1000 and second clay-court ATP Tour championship. While addressing the press conference, Medvedev stated that Rafael Nadal‘s absence at the French Open will be hugely missed.
“I think it’s bad news because you never want to see anyone injured, withdrawing, especially someone like Rafa. Rafa on clay, in general, but especially in Roland Garros is just unreal,” he said. Medvedev also expressed his delight at the news of his potential comeback next year. “In a way, I’m happy to hear that he’s going to try to come back.”
Nadal announced on Thursday that he will be missing the upcoming championship in Paris. He also halted all activities for the year and said to be focusing on his complete recovery post the iliopsoas surgery. The Spaniard further hinted that he will return to play his last professional tennis in 2024.
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Tanushree Verma
(52 Articles Published)