Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev has described the crowd at Rod Laver Arena as “disrespectful” after his loss to Rafael Nadal in the early hours of Monday morning.
Medvedev had little support from fans throughout the two weeks and, at times, played up to being the villain. He complained to the umpires in several matches about interruptions from fans, including during the final as the majority of the crowd cheered Nadal towards his 21st grand slam title.
An umpire’s warning in the fifth set that spectators who interjected would be booted out helped reduce interruptions.
The Russian No. 3 seed, speaking at his press conference at 2.20am, said he was “no longer the kid who dreamed” of his experiences at Melbourne Park, which included beating fan favourites Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas in matches that saw fans heavily against him.
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Although he wouldn’t specifically attribute his disappointment to the crowd, he made it clear he didn’t like the way he was treated, with some fans calling out as he was about to serve and at other key moments, including after a first fault.
“I’m going to give one small example. Before the Rafa serve in the fifth set, there might be one person yell out “C’mon Daniil” and I would be surprised at that, but everyone else was “tsz, tsz, tsz” [silent],” Medvedev said.
He said he didn’t get that same silence before his serves. “It was disappointing. It’s disrespectful. I’m not sure after 30 years I’m going to want to play tennis anymore,” he said.
“It (how long I play) depends on the people around me and what they tell me, how we will go through this journey together, but the kid who was dreaming is not anymore in me after today. So, it will be tougher to continue tennis when it’s like this.”
‘It’s disrespectful’: Medvedev laments Australian Open crowd behaviour
Source: Philippines Alive
