Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev have a rivalry going on and it’s not the friendly type either, demonstrated by many instances.
Tsitsipas and Medvedev didn’t start out as great friends on the ATP Tour, and they haven’t really become great friends either. Their famous exchange from a few years ago when Tsitsipas called Medvedev a ‘bulls**t Russian’ at the Miami Open is well known.
Medvedev called him 'a small kid who doesn’t know how to fight' in response, and since then, their relationship hasn't really improved. Still, it hasn't always been as tense, and they’ve both kind of grown out since then, or have they?
Their most recent match featured a bit of that as Tsitsipas danced after beating Medvedev. They played against each other at the Cincinnati Open in the semi-final and Tsitsipas won 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-3 to set up the final against Borna Coric.
Tsitsipas isn’t known for any sort of deliberate celebrations after his matches, but in this moment, he had one, as he showcased some dancing moves. Medvedev didn’t take any offense to it and shook hands gracefully.
This moment proved that their relationship is still somewhat chilly. They do show more respect to each other than before, as they’ve kind of matured in the past few years. However, they’re not best friends and likely never will be.
When it comes to Tsitsipas, he broke down what worked so well for him in this match, and part of it had to do with Medvedev making mistakes.
"He kept missing a lot of first serves consecutively and that gave me some time to think of my next move a little bit clearer. He gave me a double fault on break point, which I think was a very important moment for me psychologically to give my best shot. I was a few games away and I was very calm and concentrated on every single task that was given to me."