Zverev lost the more than three-hour battle, in which he was several times close to victory, 6:3, 5:7 and 6:7. He subsequently accused Medvedev of unsportsmanlike behavior in an interview for Sky television. “He is one of the most unfair players in the world. For me, fair play and sportsmanship are very important. But he has none of that,” said the Olympic champion from Tokyo.
The German tennis player mainly referred to two controversial situations. In the second set at 4:4, Medvedev helped Zverev break with two double faults, and when he went to the bench for no apparent reason, he removed the rod supporting the net and put it on the ground. He did not receive a warning from the referee for that.
“In the third set at 4:3, he went to the toilet again, even though he had no right to such a break at all. There were a thousand situations where he felt that I was starting to play better, so he tried anything to do something about it. From that I extremely disappointed as an athlete,” Zverev was angry.
Foto: Eric Gaillard, Reuters
Russian Daniil Medvedev celebrates advancing to the next round in Monte Carlo.
However, the 25-year-old German tennis player of Russian origin admitted that it was his fault that he was thrown off by his opponent’s behavior. In the second and third sets, Zverev was unable to break the match at 5:4 and did not use two match points in the decisive tie-break, which he lost 7:9.
“Of course, it’s completely my fault, it was really bad on my part. It was a great match, but of course I’d like to start winning such duels,” said the former world number two, who still can’t get back to his former form after last year a serious ankle injury.
With Medvedev, who is a year older, Zverev already played his fourteenth match and suffered his eighth defeat. “It’s a wonderful rivalry. But one of the reasons why Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Nadal) were so popular and their rivalry was so famous was that they were always fair to each other. Unfortunately, that’s what you can say about him (Medvedev) he can’t and it’s a shame for me as an athlete,” added the native of Hamburg.
