Heavy back and forth between Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev. It all started with the words of Zverev himself after the hard defeat 3-6 7-5 7-6 in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Montecarlo, with the German who strongly criticized his opponent for his attitude on the pitch. However, the Russian has certainly not accepted these controversies and following the knockout in the quarterfinals against the Danish Holger Rune he wanted to have his say about it.
“I take fairness and sportsmanship very, very seriously – declared Zverev after the defeat in the round of 16 -. Unfortunately, it has none of those. She tries to do everything when she’s behind. As an athlete, this really disappoints me. There were several moments where he felt like I was starting to play better and he was trying to do something every time. Of course it can be argued that I shouldn’t get distracted. This is completely my fault. However, I think fairness in sport should always be part of it.”
After a day, Medvedev’s harsh response came: “I think I’m great friends with about 90 players on the circuit, with 50 of them we’re not best friends but we still have a good relationship. So it always makes me feel bad when something happens and I don’t play fair, because I know sometimes I don’t. Yesterday I simply needed to go to the bathroom. What does he want me to do? So: at 3-2 I have five break points, which cancels me out. Well done him. Then I hold the next game to zero. I go to the bathroom, lose two games, and he serves for the match. And then he says I’m going to the bathroom to make him play worse… ”.
Sinner-Rune today on TV, ATP Montecarlo 2023: schedule, program, streaming, deferred in the clear
The Russian then increased the dose: “Sascha lives in his own world. Five players have already come to the dressing room and said to me: ‘Come on Daniil, why are you acting like this?’. When he loses we can find 25 interviews where he says strange things. Honestly: I had an argument with Diego (Schwartzman, ed) at the ATP Cup, and it’s my fault. He’s probably still angry with me and I’m sorry that someone as nice and sporty as Diego is. Sasha is not like that. Sascha is not like Casper, like Diego, like Andrey. When he says someone is unsportsmanlike you would tell him to look in the mirror ”.
Photo LiveMedia/Matthieu Mirville/DPPI