‘Tennis needs people like him’ – Greats praise Daniil Medvedev for unique play style
Tennis legends Pam Shriver and Andy Roddick have heaped praise upon US Open champion Daniil Medvedev for his ‘confuse and conquer’ style.
The World number two is currently competing at this year’s ATP Finals in Turin, Italy and has already secured his place in the semi-finals after beating World number three and Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev and ninth ranked Hubert Hurkacz.
Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic in the US Open final to earn a maiden Grand Slam title and crush the Serbian World number one’s dreams of winning a Calendar Slam in the process. A match which impressed US Open champion and former World number one Andy Roddick.
Speaking on Tennis Channel Live, both Shriver and Roddick lauded Medvedev for his unique and difficult to predict style.
21-time doubles Grand Slam winner Pam Shriver thinks “he’s (Medvedev) been a compelling figure since US Open a couple years ago.”
Shriver won a total of 133 singles and doubles titles between 1979 and 1997, as well as winning Olympic gold with the USA and completing a Calendar Slam in 1984 with doubles partner Martina Navrátilová.
“When I started to play, we had [Ilie] Năstase, [Jimmy] Connors, [John] McEnroe, Bille Jean King. We had characters all over the place.
“Tennis needs people like Medvedev, he’s a riot, he’s fun and he wins,” Shriver claimed.
Fellow US Open champion Andy Roddick also praised Medvedev’s style and joked “it’s not a match-up I would have liked to have fought against.
“This guy has mastered this ‘confuse and conquer’ method where he can lay back and play extremely defensively and almost beg you to be aggressive and bait you into it.
“Knowing that he has that ability to just be crazy but in a very calculated way.”
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