Daniil Medvedev against the world II part: the Russian finds himself with the same situation of the last US Open
Medvedev, the last hurdle to place Nadal at the top of history
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| The Nadal vs Medvedev FINAL Australian Open 2022: date, time and TV channel |
Nadal, a 'fair play' award for the last four seasons and a favorite of the public, faces a rival who likes to move in controversy
Daniil Medvedev warned in the preview of the final that he is ready for the challenge: “It is a situation similar to the one I experienced in the last US Open against a player who was also playing for the twenty-first major”.
The Russian is referring to the fight for the US Open title last September, which ended with his first major after defeating Novak Djokovic by a triple 6-4.
The Serbian was struggling to complete the 'Grand Slam' in the same season within the Open Era, something that only the Australian Rod Laver had achieved, and break the 20 grand slams that he shares with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Djokovic was under pressure even though the party was prepared for him. The organization longed for him to go down in history in his tournament and the stands, usually elusive with him, supported him more than ever.
He didn't care. Medvedev likes adverse environments because they motivate him. When he doesn't have them, he makes them, as has been the case in this edition of the Australian Open. Nadal is the one who now dresses as Djokovic.
After winning the second round against local Nick Kyrgios, he asked for respect from the fans, whom he called uneducated for calling him between serves. He also asked for respect for the on-track interviewer, who was none other than Jim Courier, champion in 1992 and 1993.
With the calm waters with the 'aussies' followers, Daniil complained that the competition management scheduled him a match on center court until the quarterfinals with Felix Auger Aliassime.
On that day, on the rush of coming back from two sets down for the second time in his professional career, he referred to Djokovic as inspiration to turn around such an adverse situation: "I wondered how he would do it."
The Muscovite knew and knows that the Serbian is not well seen by the Australian people for refusing the vaccine to enter a country that has experienced the harshest protocols during the pandemic.
Medvedev runs into a Rafael Nadal this Sunday who represents the complete opposite of him. He has never broken a racket, has never insulted a referee or a television camera and has received the Stefan Edberg award for 'fair play' for the last four seasons in a vote by his teammates.
“Rafa is the perfect guy, he is incredible in this aspect of not breaking the racket. I remember him explaining that his uncle Toni forbade him since he was a child, ”says Medvedev.
Gilles Cervara's pupil, at 25 years old, lives like no one else in the face of environmental pressure. He did not walk away from the semi-final match with Stefanos Tsitsipas despite dealing with the chair umpire whom he called “stupid” for ignoring Apóstolos Tsitsipas's instructions to his son.
The wayward Russian tennis player was disqualified from the Savannah (Georgia) challenger in 2016 after accusing the chair umpire, Sandy French, of helping Donald Young for having the same skin color. "I know you're friends with Young, I have no doubt."
A year later, at Wimbledon, he threw coins at the Portuguese Mariana Alves at the conclusion of the match she lost to the Belgian Ruben Bemelmans.
Comb the public of New York
And in the third round of the 2019 US Open, in the duel that measured Feliciano López, he faced the stands to the point of dedicating a comb to them and, later, thanking them for the extra motivation that having them against them meant for him. Nick Kyrgios sided with him and published a snapshot of Daniil performing the comb as a profile picture on the social network twitter.
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