'If Everyone Loves You, There Must Be A Problem': Medvedev On His Approach To Stardom

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Daniil Medvedev isn't a universally beloved player, but it's actually how he prefers it because otherwise, something would be wrong, according to him.

The Russian is quite a character on the ATP Tour, rarely straying away from being himself. He's quite similar to Novak Djokovic in that regard, so they often clash with the crowd. It's not something he does on purpose, and he actually admitted to wanting to change that, but overall, he's okay with his standing.

He's not particularly bothered by the crowd going against him and actually enjoys being the villain from time to time as long as there is atmosphere. He treats tennis much like life; some people will love you, and some won't, and he talked about it at the 2023 China Open.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, generally I love playing with the crowd, even if they're against me or not. I feel like many tournaments during the year, actually they let's call it love me. Some tournaments not. That's okay with me because that's how life is: some people like you, some don't for different reasons.

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I'd probably say if everyone loves you, there must be a problem somewhere. We say in Russia that if everything is perfect, like something is wrong.

China loves Medvedev, so he's excited to be back in the country, and he feels the love once more. He spoke about that, admitting that it's always been like that ever since he played his first event in the country many years ago.

Here in China, it was always the case since my first time I played a challenger, it was in Shanghai, I felt love from the crowd. I don't fake it. I love Chinese culture, Chinese food, Chinese people. I love being here. I think people can feel it. They love me back. I love playing in China. It was the same today. I felt a lot of support. So hopefully it's going to stay like this till the end of my career.

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