Daniil Medvedev’s new-found calmness in the face of adversity was on full display in the moments after his heartbreaking Australian Open final loss to Jannik Sinner.
For the second time in his three Australian Open finals, Medvedev lost after being up two sets to love, with Sinner taking out an epic final.
Medvedev has spoken this tournament about a desire to be more present and calm rather than antagonise the crowd and go on lengthy tirades to his box as he had in previous years.
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After the 2022 loss to Rafael Nadal he used his press conference to deliver a bizarre rant about how “the kid stopped dreaming”.
“Different feeling, different circumstances, I would say. Now I’m dreaming more than ever, probably not today, but in general in life,” Medvedev said in response to a Foxsports.com.au question post-match.
“But I would say it’s not anymore a kid who is dreaming. It’s me myself right now, a 27-year-old who is dreaming, and who’s doing everything that is possible for my future and for my present. I love it. That’s why I made it to the final. I wanted to win. I was close. Was I really close or not? Tough to say, but was not far.
“Yeah, the scoreline is similar but I think the match would be a bit different.”
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His demeanour after losing the final on Sunday night was noticeably more subdued, with the former world number one generous in his congratulations of his opponent both at the net and in his post-match speech.
“First of all I want to congratulate you Jannik because today he showed again why he deserves it, you fought till the end, managed to raise your level, you and your team are doing an amazing job,” he said.
“You waited a lot of tournaments, winning a lot of matches and probably that is not your last grand slam but I hope I can try to get the next one if we play in the final because I’ve been in three finals in a row so I’ll try my best to do better next time but really big congratulations and you deserve it.”
Medvedev went on to thank his family and supporters, while also managing to charm the crowd.
“I just want to thank everyone, it has been honestly an amazing two weeks, it always hurts to lose in the final but probably being in the final is better than losing before,” he said.
“I always want to win but I guess, yeah, I have to try harder next time, but I’m proud of myself and I’m going to try even harder next time. Thank you, guys.”