‘Story of a kid who stopped dreaming!’ Emotional Daniil Medvedev left disgusted by crowd in an iconic presser after Australian Open final loss

Daniil Medvedev was defeated in the finals of Australian Open 2022 in the most extraordinary and heartbreaking fashion. The Russian who was just one set away from claiming his first Australian Open title, fell victim to an unimaginable comeback from Rafael Nadal.

Daniil Medvedev squandered a two-set lead, as Nadal came back from behind to claim the Australian Open 2022 title. The Russian does not have a good rapport with the Australian crowd, as he was left annoyed by the fans who were constantly backing Rafael Nadal and causing disturbances whilst he was serving.

After his loss in the finals, Daniil Medvedev delivered one of the iconic pressers in tennis history, as he talked about a young boy, referring to himself, who dreamed about playing tennis. The Russian seemed to be disgusted with the crowd, as he indirectly took a jibe at them, by narrating a long story even before questions were asked.

Daniil Medvedev talks about the child in him who has stopped dreaming after Australian Open final loss

Below, you can read the entire story narrated by Daniil Medvedev, which starts from his earlier days in tour to his experience playing in the finals of Australian Open 2022.

Daniil Medvedev:

“Actually did a little bit. But it‘s going to be a little bit of a new press conference because I’m going to start with short or long, I don’t know. I’ll try to keep it short. Story of a young kid who dreamed about big things in tennis.

When I picked up a racquet when I was six years old, I mean, the time goes fast. When I was 12, practicing, playing some Russian tournaments, of course watching Grand Slams on the TV, big stars playing, fans supporting. You dream of being there.

Start playing some tennis Europe tournaments. I actually remember playing Youth Olympic Games, I think it was called like Youth Olympic Festival or whatever. I made final. It was cool. We had like a center court. It was in Turkey. I would say there was maybe thousand people, two thousand. It was really cool, amazing to be there. Those are the moments where you dream of, yeah, bigger stages.

Then I think the big part for every junior is playing in the junior Grand Slam. That‘s where you can see the pros. At US Open you actually eating in the restaurant with them. Small things like this. There are people coming to support you even if probably they don’t really know who you are, but there are people supporting juniors. It’s great moments.

That‘s the moment where you’re like, Wow, I want to be there in this Grand Slams playing against the best people in the world.

I remember when I went to US Open, I saw John Isner passing by. I was like, Wow, he‘s so huge. He’s bigger than on the TV. It’s just nice moments.

Then I don‘t know, a lot of futures, a lot of challengers, try to climb your way up. You start playing biggest tournaments. There are some moments in my career where I think this kid was doubting if he should continue to dream about these big things or not.

I remember one. I lost really tough match two times in Roland Garros actually. And I speak French. I feel like in my age I was maybe top five in this moment or something like this, which is not bad. Especially we have a huge generation, as you can see right now, a lot of top-10 players and stuff like this.

I remember I lost to Benjamin Bonzi, who is in top hundred now. There was, if I‘m not mistaken, one Russian journalist in the room. I was like, Really? It’s a Grand Slam. I think I was close to being top 50, really young. I was like, Okay, that’s surprising. I think the journalist was Russian so we talked for five minutes. I like talking to journalists.

I remember a tough loss to Pierre-Hugues Herbert. 2-0 up in the sets. Actually amazing match. He played amazing. And I like these matches, that‘s why I like tennis.

I was on the edge of breaking top 10. Again, in my age I think I would be like top three, that would probably be Zverev, even maybe top two, Dominic, of course, but he‘s a little bit older.

I came in the press. I was a little bit, yeah, frustrated with the fans and everything. It‘s funny because I wanted to keep it short, so I wanted to answer with two words or anything. There was one journalist. I think Italian, he asked me something and I answered two words, no more questions. There were some Russians, they asked me some things. Again, a kid was doubting if he should continue of dreaming big.

I‘m not going to explain why exactly, but today during the match I understood that I’m going to play tennis — actually it’s funny. I was talking about journalists, but I really like talking to you guys, I think you can see it. That’s not really the point. 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.

I‘m going to say it like this. If there is a tournament on hard courts in Moscow, before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I’m going to go there even if I miss the Wimbledon or Roland Garros or whatever. The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself. That’s it. That’s my story. Thanks for listening, guys.

Now we can go to questions about tennis or anything,” Medvedev said.

Daniil Medvedev has made it very clear that he is now going to play for all Russians and himself. The world number two has not been a fan favorite, and he feels that the line was crossed during the final. On several occasions during the final, he requested the chair umpire to look into the matter, as he heard the crowd disturbing him during his service games.

Also Read: “Always impressive fighting spirit that prevailed another time” Novak Djokovic congratulates Rafael Nadal for winning the 21st Grand Slam, reaches out to Daniil Medvedev as well