"I was amazed by what he did today, the level was very high" - Daniil Medvedev on Rafael Nadal's comeback
Daniil Medvedev lavished rich praise on Rafael Nadal after his loss to the Spaniard in the final of the 2022 Australian Open. The Russian claimed he was was amazed by Nadal's resilience during the encounter, and expressed satisfaction with the high level of tennis the pair treated fans to in the process.
Medvedev came within one set of winning his second consecutive Grand Slam title, but it was not meant to be. Having lost the opening two sets, Nadal pulled things back in the next three to stage a remarkable 2-6, 6(5)-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win that earned him his 21st Grand Slam.
At the presentation ceremony, a clearly fatigued Medvedev collected the runner-up trophy and paid rich tribute to his opponent. The World No. 2 revealed that the first thing he asked Nadal after his "insane" comeback was whether he was tired.
"Tough to talk after playing for five hours and 30 minutes and losing, but I want to congratulate Rafa because I was amazed by what he did today," Medvedev said. "During the match, I tried just to play tennis. But after the match I asked him, 'Are you tired?' because it was insane. I think the level [of tennis] was very high."
It can't be easy to deliver a classy speech after a five-hour losing effort, but Daniil Medvedev did it with aplomb. 🤝
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Daniil Medvedev then turned to address Rafael Nadal directly. The 25-year-old surmised that Nadal raised his game after losing the first two sets because the 21st Grand Slam title was at the back of his mind.
Medvedev referred to the World No. 5 as an "amazing champion", and congratulated him for overtaking Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the Slam race.
"You raised your level after two sets for the 21st Grand Slam," the Russian said. "I thought you were going to get tired. Maybe [you did] just a little but you still won the match. You are an amazing champion. I think you guys still have a good rivalry. It is not over yet, but congrats. It was unbelievable, and congrats to your team."
World class tennis player, world class speech giver 😄
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The 2021 US Open champion then proceeded to thank his team, particularly his wife, who unfortunately couldn't attend the match in person. Medvedev jokingly remarked that she might have broken the television after watching him lose in such agonizing fashion.
Medvedev's final comment to his team and his supporters was that he would try his best to go further at next year's Australian Open. The Russian has fallen at the last hurdle in each of the last two editions of the tournament.
"[Our team] tried our best and hopefully there are more victories to come," Medvedev said. "Usually there is my wife in the box, but I think probably the TV is broken [back home] right now. She is my biggest support, so I want to thank her. I want to thank [the rest of my team] and I am going to try to be better next time."
Loss in the Australian Open final means Daniil Medvedev has missed out on becoming World No. 1
Daniil Medvedev could have overtaken Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings and become World No. 1 had he beaten Rafael Nadal in the final. But now that he has finished as the runner-up at both this edition as well as the last, he has zero net-gain from the tournament in terms of ranking points.
Novak Djokovic loses 2000 points as a result of not playing at the tournament, whihc takes his ranking points tally from 11,015 to 9,015. Medvedev, on the other hand, remains within touching distance of the Serb, atf 8,935 points.
The 25-year-old has a chance to reach the top spot at the upcoming Rotterdam Open, where there are 500 points up for grabs.