Sunday was a special date for almost any tennis enthusiast as Novak Djokovic beat Nick Kyrgios in four sets to win his fourth straight Wimbledon title.
That is unless you're Daniil Medvedev, however, as the restricted Russian made a point of ignoring Sunday's decider in favour of the Austrian Grand Prix. Despite being ranked No. 1 in the world, Moscow-born Medvedev was prevented from taking part in this year's draw after the All England Club banned all Russian and Belarusian players.
The ATP condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in May but branded the decision to suspend Russian and Belarusian players from the grass-court season "unfair." In response, both the ATP and WTA stripped the London major of all rankings points, which has affected finalists Kyrgios and Djokovic, as well as others who exited the draw earlier.
Medvedev, 26, reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year in what was his fourth (and most successful) appearance at SW19 to date. However, he will have had loftier aspirations for this year's tournament after winning his maiden Grand Slam at the 2021 U.S. Open.
He followed that up with a runner-up finish at the Australian Open early in 2022, where he fell to Rafael Nadal despite leading by two sets. Despite all that, the emerging superstar cast a relaxed figure as he put his feet up with some Formula 1 on Sunday.
Rather than take in Djokovic's 21st Grand Slam title, Medvedev watched Ferrari 's Charles Leclerc pip Red Bull 's Max Verstappen to victory in the Austrian GP. Titleholder Verstappen now holds a 38-point lead at the standings summit, except it's now Leclerc directly behind him rather than team-mate Sergio Perez.
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Many tennis fans would likely suggest Medvedev was foolish to miss arguably the biggest match of the year. However, their F1 counterparts would contend he was by no means short of thrills by opting for the Red Bull Ring instead.
That's after both Red Bull star Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz failed to finish in Austria, with the latter lucky to escape without injury after his F1-75 caught fire. Mercedes ' Lewis Hamilton also finished third for the third race in a row, while Haas' Mick Schumacher achieved a career-best sixth place.
Medvedev's major omission will end when the U.S. Open kicks off at Flushing Meadows on August 29. There, he'll hope to become the competition's first back-to-back men's champion since Roger Federer won the major five times in a row between 2004 and 2008.
