Daniil Medvedev’s heartbreaking 2022 Australian Open video resurfaces online as fans are reminded of a disturbing incident on court that broke the Russian
Daniil Medvedev lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Australian Open final despite winning the first two sets.
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Daniil Medvedev (L), Rafael Nadal (R) (Image via: X)
As Daniil Medvedev lost yet another Grand Slam final against Jannik Sinner in the 2024 Australian Open, tennis blogger ‘Pavvy G’ reminded fans of a similar instance when the Russian lost to Rafael Nadal in the final of the 2022 Australian Open, despite winning the first two sets.
After he won his second set, the Russian was subjected to xenophobic abuse from a fan in the stands, and it clearly affected him. What followed was one of the most iconic press conferences in recent tennis history.
In the press conference, Daniil Medvedev started narrating a long story of a small boy, referring to himself, who dreamt of playing tennis at the biggest stages but has now stopped dreaming because of several scarring experiences, including the one that took place in the final.
For those who are unaware of the incident, the xenophobic fan had asked Medvedev to go back to his country, i.e, Russia.
Medvedev explained that even as a young player, when he made some major achievements, he did not receive the same reception as the other players, probably because of his nationality.
That’s not all, as per the tennis professional himself, he always loved talking to journalists and after some of his major achievements and biggest matches, he only had a few Russian journalists who were interested in asking him questions. And that was at times when he was already in the Top 50 of the ATP rankings at a very young age.
The Russian said that the things that happened during the final between him and Rafael Nadal were one of the experiences that forced the kid in him from dreaming.
I’m just talking about few moments where the kid stopped dreaming, and today was one of them. I’m not going to really tell why. From now on I’m playing for myself, for my family, to provide my family, for people that trust in me, of course for all the Russians because I feel a lot of support there,”He said.
Fans react to Daniil Medvedev being subjected to Xenophobic abuse
Pavvy G pointed out that the establishment did not acknowledge the incident at all and instead tried to brush it away. Even when Rafael Nadal was asked about the rowdy crowd behavior, the Spaniard said that he didn’t feel they crossed a line.
Many fans pointed out that although it is indeed sad, negative elements like this can not be removed from the sport and they are here to stay, irrespective of how hard the establishment tries to make it otherwise.
The establishment” is really only a bystander to these things. Tournaments, a microcosm of the prevailing sentiment in the world, even with by best efforts by tennis authorities, will always have bad elements filter through.Wrote a particular fan.
Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:
However, most of the fans remembered how unfortunate this incident was and are angry about the fact that the media pretended that the incident never happened. Many fans also called out Rafael Nadal’s surprising comments after the incident.
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Rishab Dutta
(794 Articles Published)