World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev stated that he was upset with the crowd at the Australian Open, saying they crushed his spirits.
Medvedev lost to Nadal 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in the final after winning the first two sets. It was a devastating defeat for the Russian, who had a great run at the tournament.
However, the crowd was never on his side throughout the event. Every match he played had the crowd greet him with boos, jeers and whistles. It was the same story in the final, where Nadal was the overwhelming favourite. The crowd was disrespectful and hostile towards him every time he stepped foot on court.
Medvedev revealed he was very upset with the crowd at the Australian Open, saying they were not a great audience as far as he was concerned.
Speaking after his loss, the US Open champion said, “Before Rafa serves even in the fifth set, there would be somebody … like one guy screaming, ‘C’mon, Daniil’,” he said, as quoted by MyKhel.
“(But) a thousand people would be like ‘Tsss, tsss, tsss’. That sound. It’s disappointing. It’s disrespectful. I’m not sure….I’m going to want to play tennis.”
Broken
“It’s going to be a little bit of a new press conference,” he said after his match.
“I’m just talking about few moments where the kid stopped dreaming, and today was one of them. I’m not going to really tell why. ‘
“I’m going to say it like this. If there is a tournament on hard courts in Moscow, before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I’m going to go there even if I miss the Wimbledon or Roland Garros or whatever.
“The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself. That’s it. That’s my story,” he concluded.
Read more: Medvedev reacts to being booed by fans – “I asked myself ‘What would Novak do?’”