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Tag: Daniil Medvedev

Mats Wilander on Why Medvedev Lost to Nadal Twice in a Month

Posted on by Chirag

Former tennis star and current legend, Mats Wilander has given his opinion as to why Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev two straight times within the span of 30 days. The current World no. 1, Medvedev and current World no. 4, Rafael Nadal met twice on a major stage, first in the Australian Open finals, which saw Nadal pull a rabbit out of his hat as he bounced back from an almost impossible 2 set deficit to win the thrilling five setter and his 21st Grand Slam.

The second time the Russian and the Spaniard met was over in Mexico in the semi finals of the Acapulco Open. The two are scheduled to be at the Indian Wells as well which starts on the 8th of March in California. 

“I think that you can be No.

1 in different ways. I feel like Daniil Medvedev deserves to be there, but to really go out and be looked upon as the best player in the world every day, he most probably needs to win a couple more Grand Slams while he is No.

1 in the world,” Wilander told Eurosport. “But that’s how the ranking works. That’s how the computer works and if you play a lot of tournaments and you’re consistent, you deserve to be there,” he added.

“But it must never be confused with being the best player in the world today and being the best player consistently over the last 12 months. There’s a huge difference between the two.” The Swede went on to claim that the Russian “has some distance to go” before he can be compared to the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic when they were No.

1. “[Daniil Medvedev lost] to Rafael Nadal in Acapulco in very humid conditions – the tennis balls are not flying through the air as quickly as they do in Australia and when they do hit the court, they stop skidding through the court because the surface was very slow,” Wilander said.

“So in Acapulco, I can easily explain why Medvedev lost because of the conditions.”

Djokovic Returns to On Court Action With A Thrilling Win

Posted on by Chirag

The World No. 1 made a comeback last night in Dubai as he played his first official match of 2022. 

The Serbian took on Italy’s Loreonzo Musetti in a thriller under the burning heat as he defeated him 6-3, 6-3 in straight sets. Novak looked to have not lost a single step as he slid his way across the court for outstanding returns.

Recently Nadal and Novak himself have compared Djokovic’s style to that of the current World No. 2 breathing down Novak’s neck and Australian Open finalist, Daniil Medvedev. Is a 2022 dream match on the cards this year with the likes of Djokovic, Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Nadal all in a tournament at the French Open possibly?

“A pleasant experience,” he said.

After thanking the crowd following his first match of 2022, Djokovic added: “I couldn’t pick a better place to kick start the season – it was the best possible experience tonight.

“All in all, it’s a straight-set win so of course I have to be satisfied, especially after not playing for two and a half, almost three months.”

“It’s always in the heat of battle, the atmosphere where you need to get that energy out. Sometimes you are frustrated with yourself, your game, the things that are happening.”

He later said he had received a “very friendly” welcome back to competition by the “majority” of players.

He added: “I’m very thankful for that because having the kind of an understanding at least, I would say, if not support from my peers and my colleagues, is very important to me because they are the people that I get to see sometimes more than my family.

“I care greatly about the relationships that we have.”

Djokovic Talks About Medvedev Overtaking Him for Number 1 Spot

Posted on by Chirag

The current World No. 1 sits atop a long list of ATP candidates willing to win and take away the spot from the Serbian champion. 

Novak Djokovic has although almost lost his number one spot after being away from tennis due to legally not being allowed to play in Australia due to vaccine mandates. With the World Number 2, Daniil Medvedev reaching the finals in Australia, he jumped up the ratings drastically and is now very close to reach World No. 1

In an interview, Djokovic said, “It’s in his hands. He deserves to be No. 1,” Djokovic said Sunday before his season debut at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “Eventually it’s going to happen. If it happens this week, I’ll be the first one to congratulate him.”

“The only scenario that I have in my head is to win every match that I play here,” Djokovic said.

“It’s great to be here. I’ve had some wonderful results in this tournament. It’s been a while since I played for the first time in [the] Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships,” Djokovic said. “[I have] many wonderful memories on and off the court.”

“It’s always a very solid, very hard draw and field. Every match you get to play is really on a Grand Slam, ATP Masters 1000 level. It is a 500 category, but it feels that it’s stronger than that definitely with the field of players,” Djokovic said. “I’m excited. I haven’t played a match since Davis Cup in Spain last December. Can’t wait to start an official match tomorrow night.”

“Of course, [my] first match is going to be very important to kind of start off the campaign in this year’s tournament in a positive way,” Djokovic said. “I have a young, very talented, tricky opponent in Lorenzo Musetti, who has had a big win over [Hubert] Hurkacz a few weeks ago in Rotterdam.”

Nadal’s Miracle in Melbourne Gets Him a record 21st Grand Slam Title

Posted on by Chirag

Last night in Melbourne, spectators witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in sports history as Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev to win his 2nd ever Australian Open and a record 21st Grand Slam.

The match started with Daniil Medvedev in full control as he took the first 2 sets at 6-2, 7-6 comparatively easily. There just seemed no way out for Nadal as he tried various ways to win a point against the Russian.

The Spaniard tried going back behind the baseline, tried coming ahead and volleying and even tried to focus on Daniil’s Forehand but just couldn’t find a way to penetrate Medvedev’s defense. However by the third set, Nadal had tried enough and started combining all of these methods to tire out Medvedev.

By the end of the set, Nadal won his first set and went on to take the fourth set with incredibly difficult points to break Medvedev’s serve. Finally, as the Melbourne crowd showed zero signs of sleepiness, they backed the Spaniard as he served for the match in the last set.

There is no doubt that Medvedev has incredible potential and could have won last night, however Nadal’s resilience and perseverance was otherworldly. The match went on for a whole 5 hours and 24 minutes with the two players very tired by the end of it.

Nadal broke a number of records with this win as he climbed up to number 5 in the rankings, got to 90 career wins, became the fourth male player to win all four grand slams at least twice and also became the first ever player in history to win a record 21 grand slams with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer at 20 grand slams each. Nadal truly is the GOAT right now.