Medvedev puts his finger to his mouth towards the audience. Zverev had had enough of his taunts.
Alexander Zverev (ATP 16) came very close to a stunt in the third round of the Masters 1,000 tournament in Monte Carlo on Thursday evening. The 25-year-old German lost in three exciting sets (6-3, 5-7 and 7-6 (9/7)) to the Russian Daniil Medvedev (ATP 5). Afterwards, Zverev had few nice words for his opponent, who was booed by the audience during the match and put his finger on his mouth.
Michael Van DammeBron: BELGIAN
“He is one of the most unfair players in the world,” said the Olympic champion afterwards. “Fairness and sportsmanship are very important to me. Unfortunately, that is not the case for him.”
Zverev got it on his hips from Medvedev. — © EPA-EFE
Zverev had the chance to take the match in both the second and third set, but Medvedev was able to clear both match points. The German criticized the practices of the Russian, who, among other things, pulled away a net pole in the second set. He received no warning for this. The audience turned against the Russian, but he put a finger to his mouth in response.
This contains embedded content from a social media network that wants to write or read cookies. You have not given permission for this.
“He tries to do everything when he is behind,” Zverev sighed. “As an athlete, I am disappointed about that. He also took a toilet break at 4-3 in the third set. Well. Whenever I feel I’m better than him, he tries to do something.” The German admitted that Medvedev is one of the best players in the world.
“And maybe I shouldn’t be distracted by his actions. That’s totally true. I shouldn’t concern myself with that. But I think fair play should always be part of the sport. I am satisfied with the match. We both played great, but of course I also want to win such games.”
This contains embedded content from a social media network that wants to write or read cookies. You have not given permission for this.