Daniil Medvedev bested Jannik Sinner in an epic five-setter at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, and he shared how he did after the match.
Sinner wasn't playing a bad match by any means, but he struggled physically. The Italian was forced to take a medical timeout mid-match and even briefly went off-court. He wasn't struggling with an injury but just feeling unwell as they measured his blood pressure.
He continued the match but also ran into a very ruthless Medvedev, who had a clear idea of how to use Sinner's physical state to his advantage, which ultimately allowed him to win the match in five sets.
The Russian revealed his approach when asked after the match, explaining that he wanted to make his opponent suffer a bit more, even though, of course, he didn't mean it maliciously.
"It’s actually very tough. One moment I could feel he didn’t move that well. It’s always tricky because you wanna play more points to make him suffer a bit more … in a good way."
The crowd laughed at Medvedev's response when he was asked about Sinner's struggles. Sometimes, an athlete has to be ruthless to win, and the Russian was able to outlast the Italian in very tricky conditions, even using his opponent's struggles to his advantage.
Sinner was hyper-aggressive since experiencing the struggles, something Medvedev was aware may happen, but he was able to navigate that and advance. It was a brutal match, but the Russian once again proved himself as one of the most tenacious players on the ATP Tour.
"At the same time you know that he at one point is gonna say ‘ok I can’t run anymore. So I’m gonna go full power.’ And that’s what he did. He had set points to win the 3rd set. In a way I’d maybe prefer to not have this situation. Everything is well when it ends well. So I’m pretty happy."