Daniil Medvedev may be less inclined to sledge the Australian Open crowd this time around after describing his “low IQ” comments of 2022 as “not smart”.
The world No 7 reflected on last year’s tournament as he prepared to contest the Adelaide International, a warm-up to the calendar’s opening slam at Melbourne Park, where he lost last year’s final to Rafael Nadal.
Before that, though, Medvedev beat Nick Kyrgios in a four-set second-round thriller, after which he complained about a section of spectators who had chanted “siuuu” between his serves, telling Eurosport: “I guess some people just have a low IQ.”
A year on, he says he would relish another match against the Australian, who has since beaten the Russian in four sets in the US Open’s round of 16, but indicated he would approach the crowd differently.
“Out of the 13,000 who were there [at Rod Laver Arena], because the stadium was packed, this comment maybe was to 50 people max, so that’s the first thing,” Medvedev said. “And this comment was probably not smart from my part.
“But when you go out from the match, the way it was with Nick, sometimes you say things like one hour after, [and you think] ‘Why did I say this?’ First of all, it’s maybe not true, then it’s stupid.”
That win was Medvedev’s sole victory against Kyrgios, who holds a 4-1 record against the Russian.
“Nick is a great player, great serve,” Medvedev said. “I don’t feel like we have, like, some crazy rivalry because he definitely has some more spiced-up rivalries with other players.
“I feel like when I play him it’s a great match-up. I would like to play him more, to try to do better than last year. Definitely at the US Open he was not easy to handle, so I want to try to get my revenge if I have the chance.”
Despite being glad to play the Adelaide International, Medvedev said he would “definitely prefer” to have been at the United Cup. The inaugural tournament is contested by countries, and Russia and Belarus are barred from entering teams because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I liked to play in ATP Cup, so the United Cup seems interesting,” he said. “We would be the only team with four players in the top 10 so we would definitely be good favourites there, but it is what it is. I’m happy to be here in Adelaide, playing this tournament.
“I completely understand why we’re not playing Davis Cup or United Cup and team competitions, where we would represent our country.”
Medvedev said he needed a long time to recover from his loss to Nadal in last year’s Australian Open final, when Nadal pulled off a comeback for the ages by sealing a 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 victory.
“I felt absolutely terrible ... the thing about life and tennis is that you have to get over it, try to learn from it because you can’t change the past,” he said.
“I had some tough moments in my career... tough losses -- I know a lot of losses in a row and I always managed to find a way back, so I’m sure I’m going to find the way back to an even higher level than I was playing maybe last year.
“But yeah, the match was not easy to get over for some time, but right now I’m looking forward to the Australian Open again and I want to do better than last year. That’s the goal.”
Medvedev will open his Adelaide campaign against Italian Lorenzo Sonego, before a potential semi-final clash against 21-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.
