Trust Daniil Medvedev to come up with a comical take on the matches he plays, and ofcourse more so when he wins. The World No.3 overcame an unexpectedly tricky challenge from the unseeded French player, Terence Atmane on Monday morning in Melbourne in the Round of 128. Medvedev was pushed to a 4-setter, winning 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 eventually as Atmane retired hurt early in the fourth set itself. But the Russian lightened up the mood at the Margaret Court arena, drawing a lot of laughs with his unique comments on his opponent.
Daniil Medvedev admitted that it was a tough match for him and believed that Terence Atmane played very well. Medvedev said that he didn’t know much about Atmane since he is relatively a newcomer on the ATP Tour. But what the Russian found funny is that all experts told him while preparing for the match that Atmane has a better forehand than backhand. However, he rightly pointed out that the Frenchman missed just 3 backhands in the match. At the end, Medvedev took a classy shot at perhaps analysts, by exclaiming “Thanks guys!”
Daniil Medvedev after advancing to Australian Open R2:
“Tough match. He played pretty well. He’s just coming to tour so I didn’t know much about him… everyone told me he had a better forehand than backhand. But if you look at the stats, he missed like 3 backhands. Thanks guys.”… pic.twitter.com/bX5e44mN7J
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 15, 2024
In the first set, Daniil Medvedev lost out on service points, receiving points, net points and break points won as compared to Terence Atmane. This was evident in Medvedev being jittery of sorts, perhaps due to lack of match practice coming into the Australian Open this year. The lack of aggression from the 2021 and 2022 finalist cost him in the first set, and after that, he decided to go more on the net and look for more winners than giving Atmane the chance to dictate terms again.
Eventually, although Terence Atmane won more service points (50%) as compared to Medvedev’s (39%), the Russian covered up in almost all other aspects as the match went along. Yet, lot of work is to be done for Daniil Medvedev as Emile Ruusuvouri of Finland will be his second round opponent. For the time being, Medvedev has seemed to transition into someone who is respected and adored as he won hearts as soon as the match got over, for apparently doling out words of encouragement for his injured opponent, who gave him a hard fight.
Terence Atmane & Daniil Medvedev share a nice moment at the net as the qualifier retires due to injury.
Terence looked emotional & it looks like Daniil gave him some words of encouragement.
Sad way to end his first Grand Slam match in a main draw.
All class from Meddy. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/fCqoHkeOwH
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 15, 2024
Daniil Medvedev has been in the limelight due to his negative portrayal on Netflix
Some instances of Daniil Medvedev’s poor behavior on court was highlighted in the Break Point Season 2 episode on Netflix, which largely covered Alexander Zverev’s comeback. Zverev was highly critical of Medvedev and it has been made to look that the latter is the biggest antagonist in tennis at the moment. However, Daniil Medvedev had a rather cool response to the episode without targeting Zverev.
Daniil Medvedev is known to feed off the energy of the crowd and play mind games to have an upper hand over his opponents. He continues to be a huge threat on outdoor hard court surfaces. If Medvedev makes it to the Australian Open 2024 semifinals, he could take on World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz or ironically, Alexander Zverev once again if the German too progresses to that stage.
