There was no love lost between the Melbourne crowd and Daniil Medvedev after the trilling conclusion to the Australian Open
Russian ace Daniil Medvedev was congratulatory to his opponent Rafael Nadal after their thrilling Australian Open final on Sunday – but the same perhaps could not be said for his feelings towards the Melbourne crowd after the Russian delivered a thinly-veiled dig towards the local fans in his post-match comments.
Medvedev was bested in a five-set thriller at the Rod Laver Arena as Spanish hero Nadal claimed a record 21st Grand Slam win, breaking the hearts of Russian tennis fans along the way.
But Medvedev’s journey to the final of the first Grand Slam final of the New Year was marked by repeated run-ins with the Aussie supporters, whom he at various times has branded as “disrespectful,” having “low IQs” and, in the final when supporters attempted to distract his second serves, “empty brains.”
It can't be easy to deliver a classy speech after a five-hour losing effort, but Daniil Medvedev did it with aplomb. 🤝#AusOpen – Live on Channel 9 and 9Now. Ad-Free Live & On Demand on Stan Sport pic.twitter.com/4kkfDYiIdx
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 30, 2022
The Russian ace, who has now lost two Australian Open finals in succession, was also met with jeers from the crowd after he appeared to sarcastically ‘applaud’ their support and in his post-match comments he thanked everyone from Nadal to his own wife and family – but appeared to deliberately omit any mention of the throngs of Australian tennis fans packed into the arena.
“I want to congratulate Rafa because what you did what was amazing… After the match I asked him – ‘Are you tired?‘” he said.
