Novak Djokovic agreed after the match that Medvedev was the better player today yet he advanced after Daniil retired.
The second seed decided to play through the tiebreak despite feeling something in his muscle but gave up after failing to win the match. For many, it was abrupt and unexpected, but Medvedev was aware that something wasn't right.
"It’s the second time in my life I retired like this with a pulled muscle,” Medvedev explained later. “So here, on the second point of the tie-break, I felt a little bit [of a] strange pop in my adductor. I first thought maybe it is cramp and after the point I was like, `No, probably not a cramp.’
The decision to retire was one that he made on the spot in order to preserve his body. Playing another set wasn't an option for him: "And during the tie-break, I felt I can play like five, 10 more points but that’s it. If I play one more set, you can do it, but you can probably miss half a year instead of one month."
The whole situation left him with mixed emotions:
“I actually have no idea what is fair. If I won, I would not play the final. I was like, ‘OK, I just try to hit some shots’. If I manage to win, well I cannot do anything, I will retire. If I lose, congrats to Novak, he’s still in great shape. Good luck to him in the final.”
0 Comments