The tennis star Rafael Nadal won his next Grand Slam title beating Daniil Medvedev. On Sunday, the Russian athlete endured an ongoing battle with crowds at Melbourne Park after a tense match against Nick Kyrgios in the 2nd round.
For the 25-year-old Medvedev who repeatedly questioned local fans’ intelligence over their “disrespectful” behaviour and berated chair umpires for not keeping crowds in check, Sunday final wasn’t the best match.
In fact, the sport saga ultimately led a disheartened Russian to claim his dream of knocking off the best players had died on Rod Laver Arena. Meantime, Rafael Nadal did his best and even enjoyed the bulk of support during the final game.
Young Daniil Medvedev even claimed he would skip future grand slam events to play in front of more favourable crowds in Russia, and rubbished the theory that tennis is ready to welcome a new wave of men’s champions.
“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 Wimbledon or Roland Garros or whatever,” the Russian athlete said.
On January 30, Rafael Nadal claimed a record-setting 21st grand slam title with his second Australian Open victory. Moreover, prior to starting the final match, the Spaniard has been a favourite of the Melbourne Park crowd.
The 35-year-old watched on during the final as a frustrated Medvedev pleaded with fans to be quiet at crucial moments, shouted at chair umpire John Blom to “step up” to silence the “idiots”, and sarcastically applauded the crowd several times after his serve was broken.
