11/23/2020 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 09/12/2021 8:19 PM
Daniil Medvedev did not enter the tennis world with the idea of being likeable. He never danced or did imitations like Novak Djokovic did. He is not a correction model like Rafael Nadal. And because of his way of being, from
his beginnings he was the exact opposite of Roger Federer
, the Swiss who played at home all over the world. Because if every time he played (and plays) that magician who made history, almost everyone wanted him to win, for a long time, the exact opposite happened with the Russian. Even today, when
thousands wanted to witness history live and direct before the chance that Novak Djokovic became the top Grand Slam winner in the US Open final.
.
As if to finish marking the differences of character, Daniil never hesitated to affirm that there was a moment in his life when he
frankly hated Roger Federer
.
And, unlike what happened with the rest of the mortals, he swelled for his rivals in every game.
"
When I was 10 I hated Roger. I could not bear to see him win over and over again. From the first round he was cheering for his rivals,
" was one of Medvedev's first confessions when the tennis world began to notice him.
As if to warn that he had not come so far with the will to win popularity contests.
A simply stunning performance from @DaniilMedwed pic.twitter.com/0sF1r2CiNg
- US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021
The return of tennis after the stoppage due to the pandemic showed him with a calm spirit and with tennis intact. Focused only on winning and, at least in appearance, on leaving behind situations like August 2019 at the US Open against Feliciano López. In that game, he threw the towel that a ball-boy had handed him to the ground and, when the public booed him for that attitude, he showed his middle finger to one of the stands (the organization fined him $ 9,000 for that. ).
He was the winner but between insults, he responded with ironic gestures to the people and then upped the ante by declaring at a press conference that the hostile climate helped him to play better
.
Medvedev's lack of political correctness had its Argentinian chapter: in February this year, in the series against Argentina for the
ATP Cup
in Australia, he provoked Diego Schwartzman first by celebrating a double fault he committed and then yelling a point in his face. The
hot-blooded
Peque
insulted him in the middle of the game and was only reassured when the Russian captain,
Marat Safin
, offered his apologies.
It seems, however, to have improved his manners a bit in recent times
the Russian who, as a six-year-old boy, liked wrestling much more than tennis
. And let's not even talk about his tennis: since his elimination at the US Open last year, when he fell in the semis against champion Dominic Thiem, he has
scored a semifinal or final in every tournament he has played
. The bow of this statistical table is put by the US Open that has just been achieved, of course. Relentless, he dispatched in straight sets (for a triple 6-4) the number one in the world who could not with his frustration and ended up smashing his racket against the floor when he realized that tonight the Russian had become impenetrable
After the performance this Sunday that leaves him as one of the best players on hard courts (if not the best), those who least love the Russian begin to be forced to recognize that he has already begun to write great history in tennis.
An underarm serve?
At the #NittoATPFinals?
You LOVE to see it, @DaniilMedwed 😆 pic.twitter.com/DvVzaRt6x2
- Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 16, 2020
Daniil knows that it will not be by asking for permission that the dominance of the names that monopolized everything in recent years on the ATP circuit will collapse.
And he has as his flag that temperament that he showed to make Djokovic feel (both at the Masters 1000 in London, and in the final of the US Open) the same thing that number 1 usually does to his opponents: leaving them drowned and with the feeling of that nothing they do can disturb their rival.
Daniil & the New York crowd.
Oh how far they have come 💙 pic.twitter.com/A36XtfPgG6
- US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 12, 2021
In his glory day, Medvedev broke with that tradition of fighting with everyone and had a gesture of greatness with his rival: "
I am going to say something that I never said to anyone: for me, you are the best player in history
", He threw Novak Djokovic.
A great way to celebrate your first Grand Slam, beating the best in the world and perhaps of all time.
Look also
US Open: Djokovic exploded from impotence and smashed his racket
US Open: Relentless Medvedev thwarted Djokovic's dream and won his first Grand Slam