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Daniil Medvedev Australian Open semi
Daniil Medvedev, Tennis News, US Open Tennis

‘I didn’t fake anything’ – Daniil Medvedev discuss controversial US Open incident


Daniil Medvedev says his controversial interaction with the crowd at the 2019 US Open was an important learning experience for him.

The Russian became the villain of the piece in New York when he stuck a finger up at the crowd in response to boos at his treatment of a ball kid.

After the match, he told the crowd that their boos ‘helped’ him win the match, and was unrepentant on court.

However, later in the tournament he was able to charm them back onto his side, and he said it taught him an important lesson about authenticity and how a player’s angry moments need no define them.

“With the ups and downs and finishing on a good note and getting the crowd on my side, I didn’t fake anything and didn’t think what I say next,” Medvedev told Forbes.

“I just did my job and was myself and people had the chance to decide for themselves which personality and character I have.

“I took a lot of things from that. I shouldn’t do what I did in the first round.

“But even when making mistakes you can continue to be yourself and just show who you really are and not when you are angry and lost your temper.

“I was able to get people back on my side. I think that is important from a business point of view, really important.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.