Daniil Medvedev has found a new friend in John McEnroe after having starred together in a new advertisement for Pepperstone. Having spent time with the Russian, the American legend would be very pleased to see him beat World No.1 Jannik Sinner in thw quarterfinals of the Wimbledon 2024.
But prior to the match, McEnroe talked about how the US Open 2021 champion was likely to approach it and he had some interesting insights. The 1981 Wimbledon champion was on commentary for BBC after Medvedev benefitted from a walkover against Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16.
McEnroe advised the World No.5 to have a strong thought of revenge on his mind, without any abandon. The reason being that Sinner had won all his last 5 encounters against him. And the one that hurt Medvedev the most was the Australian Open 2024 final, in which he failed to capitalise on a 2 sets to love lead.
The American’s co-commentator pointed out that modern day professional players would look at such matches as a usual run-of-a-mill one on a ‘brand new day’. But McEnroe perhaps drew from his own experiences to explain how niceness does not help fire up a player like Medvedev in these kind of situations.
McEnroe also pointed out that Medvedev was far from the favorite to win against Sinner because grass has not been the Russian’s favorite surface. He wanted the Russian to accept any thought in his mind that he would have wished to play the World No.1 on a hard court to have the upper hand again in their rivalry.
At the end, Medvedev did what McEnroe imagined, i.e. give it his best shot and try to force mistakes from Sinner by trusting his natural game. The American was of the opinion that Medvedev could play the match without any pressure on him since the attention was all on the Italian, and that is exactly what happened.
It is interesting that McEnroe could say a lot about Medvedev so confidently. In their advertisement for Pepperstone, which was shot before Wimbledon, Medvedev and McEnroe were seen playing tennis on a grass court.
McEnroe and Medvedev Banter With Each Other in Advertisement
In the ad, as Medvedev was hitting the ball nicely, McEnroe interrupted to say that he is doing it wrong. McEnroe was wearing a red headband, reminding fans of his iconic look in the 1980s.
.@DaniilMedwed wasn’t fine with this!
Don’t know how Mac won so many Grand Slam titles in those shorts…
#Pepperstone #DontBeFineWithIt pic.twitter.com/VW4gdbNj2Y— Pepperstone (@PepperstoneFX) July 6, 2024
When Medvedev countered that he is one of the best in the world, McEnroe hilariously pointed out the issue with it. The 7-time Grand Slam champion said that Medvedev is ‘one of’ the best, and that he can help him be the best.
In the next scene, Medvedev was also wearing a red headband and had long hair like McEnroe, which he doesn’t like. The Russian player left the court in frustration and it gave the ad a hilarious punchline in the end – ‘Don’t Be Fine With It’!
