"The kid has stopped dreaming" - Daniil Medvedev during emotional press conference after Australian Open final loss
Rafael Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev in a five hour, 24 minute battle on Sunday to win the 2022 Australian Open. Medvedev was two sets and three break points up at one stage of the match, but Nadal staged a remarkable comeback to take the match 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Later in the day a clearly emotional Medvedev began his press conference with a long monologue, implying that he has risen through the ranks without much support.
"When I picked up a racquet when I was six years old, I mean, the time goes fast," the Russian said. "When I was 12, practicing, playing some Russian tournaments, of course watching Grand Slams on the TV, big stars playing, fans supporting. You dream of being there."
"Then I don't know, a lot of futures, a lot of challengers, try to climb your way up," he added. "You start playing biggest tournaments. There are some moments in my career where I think this kid was doubting if he should continue to dream about these big things or not."
Daniil Medvedev went on to mention two moments specifically - his 2017 Roland Garros defeat to Benjamin Bonzi, and 2020 Roland Garros loss at the hands of Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Medvedev was two sets up in the latter and lost in five, but the relative lack of reporters in the post-match press conference left him disillusioned.
"I remember I lost to Benjamin Bonzi, who is in top 100 now," Medvedev said. "There was, if I'm not mistaken, one Russian journalist in the room. I was like, Really? It's a Grand Slam. I think I was close to being top 50, really young. I was like, Okay, that's surprising."
"I came in the press," Medvedev added about his match against Herbert. "I was a little bit frustrated with the fans and everything. It's funny because I wanted to keep it short, so I wanted to answer with two words or anything. There was one journalist. I think Italian, he asked me something and I answered two words, no more questions. There were some Russians, they asked me some things. Again, a kid was doubting if he should continue of dreaming big."
Medvedev refused to specifically explain why he has "stopped dreaming", but stressed that going forward he would play tennis only for himself and his well-wishers.
"From now on I'm playing for myself, for my family, to provide my family, for people that trust in me, of course for all the Russians because I feel a lot of support there," Daniil Medvedev said. "I'm going to say it like this. If there is a tournament on hard courts in Moscow, before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I'm going to go there even if I miss the Wimbledon or Roland Garros or whatever. The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself. That's it. That's my story."
"I think nationality plays a key" - Daniil Medvedev on his lack of popularity
Daniil Medvedev also claimed that his nationality could well be playing a role in his lack of popularty among tennis crowds. According to the 25-year-old, neutral fans tend to cheer for other players rather than Russians.
"I think nationality plays a key," Medvedev said. "It's just that Russian tennis was a little bit down for some time. I think I'm trying really, I feel there is a lot more buzz about tennis in Russia right now with me, Andrey, Karen, Aslan doing big things. That's great. Hopefully we'll try to get more people to go for us."
"But yeah, I can definitely see when you playing somebody from the other country, they would go for them and not for Russian or something like this," he added.
The World No. 2 directed a lot of his frustration towards the partisan Melbourne crowd on Sunday. The fans regularly booed and distracted Medvedev during the match, and the Russian highlighted one specific instance in the fifth set.
"I'm just going to give one small example," he said. "Before Rafa serves even in the fifth set, there would be somebody, and I would even be surprised, like one guy screaming, C'mon, Daniil. A thousand people would be like, Tsss, tsss, tsss. That sound. Before my serve, I didn't hear it. It's disappointing. It's disrespectful, it's disappointing."
The 25-year-old also suggested he was unlikely to play tennis beyond the age of 30 if the situation didn't improve.
"I'm not sure after 30 years I'm going to want to play tennis," Daniil Medvedev said. "Again, the kid that was dreaming is not anymore in me after today. It will be tougher to continue tennis when it's like this.."
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