Medvédev looses his cool in Turin, fools around with his racket mid game

Daniil Medvédev lost to Taylor Fritz on Monday, 6-4 6-4, in the first match of the group phase of ATP Finals 2024 in Turin. In Tennis you can win or loose, but Medvédev completely lost control in an embarrassing performance.

At the seventh game of the second set, when Medvédev was loosing 2-4 against Fritz, he seemed to give up. He knew that he was going to loose, so he started messing around: throwing his racket in the air, teasing the public and Fritz by grabbing the racquet the wrong way, then correcting it just before Fritz served. He was booed by the spectators.

After the match, he confessed he had considered withdrawing the game, and said he was completely frustrated, "this time only with myself, not with anyone, just myself".

He said that, for the first time, he is "100% wishing for the season to be over". "I have this every day since like two, three years. Every practice is a struggle. Every match is a struggle. Now I feel zero pleasure of being on the court."

Medvédev had been several times fined by his bad attitude on the court. However, outside the court, he is respectful and respected by his colleagues, which makes this mental breakdown the more sad.

Fritz thinks Medvédev was still trying to fight for the match

"I think he's really funny, to be honest. Even when he's not playing me, he always cracks me up", Fritz said, and doesn't think that Medvédev was just giving up, instead trying to make him loose focus. Medvédev did win two more games.

The Russian player attitude was reprehensible, but there is a difference between messing around and bluntly disrespecting your rivals, as seen in Paris a few weeks back.

Medvédev is still number 4 in ATP, even if he looses one position to Fritz, it is still "decent", he says, but mentally, he is simply on in a good state, and hasn't won a single tournament this year.