Daniil Medvedev, who is to contest his first tournament as world No. 1 at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, on Wednesday said that he has matured since his loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.
In the wake of his crushing loss to the Spanish star in Melbourne — where Nadal rallied from two sets down to win a record 21st Grand Slam title — Medvedev complained about “disrespectful” fans.
However, he said at Indian Wells that those comments — which came after he was fined US$12,000 for an outburst at the chair umpire in his semi-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas — were made in the heat of a disappointing moment.
Photo: AFP
“It made me mature, the Australian Open,” the 26-year-old said. “I understood I had a lot to work on myself.”
Medvedev officially ascended to world No. 1 on Monday last week — days after his rise was assured when Novak Djokovic fell in a quarter-finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Playing in the Mexico Open at Acapulco at the time, Medvedev was unable to celebrate the achievement with a title, stopped once again by Nadal in the championship match.
Photo: AFP
The two could meet again in the semi-finals at Indian Wells, where Djokovic is absent due to the US government’s COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Djokovic withdrew from the tournament on Wednesday, when the women’s first-round action was under way and the men’s draw had already been made.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion wrote on Twitter that the US Centers for Disease Control “confirmed the regulations won’t be changing so I won’t be able to play in the U.S.”
Djokovic has played in only one tournament so far this year because he has not received any COVID-19 shots.
Djokovic said in April 2020 that he was opposed to needing to be vaccinated to travel.
Djokovic has said that he would not get vaccinated even if he needs to be to participate in events such as the French Open or Wimbledon.
The five-time Indian Wells champion was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Grigor Dimitrov.
Medvedev acknowledged that there was “a lot of pressure” in playing as the world’s top-ranked player, “but at the same time a lot of motivation.”
While he is to have No. 1 beside his name, he will not have the Russian flag, after tennis authorities ruled that Russian and Belarusian players cannot compete under the names or flags of their countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I want to play tennis, play in different countries — I want to promote my sport,” Medvedev said. “Right now the situation is that’s the only way I can play, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
He also reiterated his desire for peace as fighting raged for a 15th day in Ukraine.
“My message is always the same — I want peace in all of the world,” Medvedev said. “I think every tennis player is going to say the same.”
The conflict is certain to cast its shadow over Indian Wells, where a dozen players from Russia and four from Belarus are entered, along with four from Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, who was in her home city of Odessa amid Russian bombing last month, took to the court on Wednesday for a first-round match against France’s Caroline Garcia draped in a Ukrainian flag.
However, she fell at the first hurdle, saving two match points in the second set tiebreaker before succumbing 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5.
Garcia advanced to a second-round meeting with 11th-seeded US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
The other first-round winners in the women’s singles on Wednesday were: Americans Ann Li, Claire Liu, Alison Riske and Katie Volynets, Ukranian Anhelina Kalinina, Japan’s Misaki Doi, Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, China’s Zheng Qinwen, Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, Petra Martic of Croatia, Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, Harriet Dart of Britain, Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, Caroline Garcia of France, Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and partner Magda Linette of Poland defeated Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Croatia’s Darija Jurak Schreiber 6-3, 2-6, 12-10 to set up a second-round match against Chinese pair Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan.
Additional reporting by staff writer and AP
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS