Germany’s tennis star Alexander Zverev has to admit defeat to Russian Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16 in Monte Carlo after a hard fight. Much more than the three-set defeat, the Olympic champion was annoyed by the behavior of his opponent, whom he described after the match as “one of the most unfair players in the world”.
After his knockout round in Monte Carlo, Alexander Zverev let his frustration run wild. On the one hand, the 25-year-old was of course annoyed about his defeat. However, the behavior of his opponent Daniil Medvedev triggered even more in him.
After this match, he felt “shit”, Zverev initially admitted on the “Sky” microphone. Looking at the Russian, he then said: “It’s so bitter for me that he’s an excellent tennis player, one of the best in the world. But he’s one of the most unfair players we have in the world. He tries to do everything , when he’s behind. As an athlete, I’m just extremely disappointed.”
Zverev shoots sharply against Medvedev
He himself takes “fairness and sportsmanship very seriously,” said Zverev. “And unfortunately he (Medvedev) has none of that,” the German rumbled against his opponent.
“One of the reasons why Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Needle) were so popular and the rivalry was appreciated all over the world was because they were always fair to each other. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of him (Medvedev). That It’s really a shame for me as an athlete,” Zverev then looked at his rivalry with the Russian with extremely critical words.
“Fairness should always be a part of sport”
When asked exactly which moments his criticism of Medvedev refers to, Zverev said: “There are thousands of moments.” One of them was his opponent’s toilet break in the decisive third set. “He goes to the toilet at 4: 3, although there is no toilet break. There are thousands of situations in which I started playing better and where he tries to do something every time,” Zverev got upset.
At the same time, the German number one also admitted that he shouldn’t be distracted by his opponent’s games. “It was totally my fault and it was really bad of me today. But fair play should always be a part of sport.”
