Medvedev on Sound and Fury and Learning to Zip It

By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Photo credit: Sport TV

Through his game and words, Daniil Medvedev can create a tennis tempest of sound and fury.

One of the sport’s most expressive players aims to press the mute button on himself.

Speaking to the media at Indian Wells, Medvedev confessed: “On court, I should speak less.” 

Last week in Dubai, frustrated by four match points slipping from his grip, Medvedev dropped the second-set tiebreaker against Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(7), then got into it with chair umpire Adel Nour.

The chair umpire hit a venting Medvedev with a code violation prompting the mercurial Medvedev to unload.

“What did I say?” Medvedev said standing up from his seat. “What is this a double standard against Russians?

“A double standard?”

Former No. 1 Medvedev wound up losing a heart-breaker to Griekspoor and did not shake Nour’s hand though he said afterward he had spoken to the chair umpire and resolved their issue.

Reflecting on his reputation as a vocal and demonstrative player on court, Medvedev said in the heat of the moment, with adrenaline rushing through his veins, he sometimes says things he does not mean.

“Well, first of all, as I say, I do think on the court I should talk less,” Medvedev said. “The thing is that here, I think that I speak what I think. On the court sometimes I say things which I don’t really think.

“It’s just because of the adrenaline, the stakes, the pressure of the moment, I sometimes say things which after the game I can clearly say I did not think this, it’s not true.”

Though he hopes to tone down the volume on court, Medvedev plans to be the same candid, uncensored voice in pressers fans and media love to hear speak.

“I don’t really know how to answer this question because I feel like I’ve always been like this,” Medvedev told the media in Indian Wells. “I just don’t always tell what I think, but, like, sometimes I keep things to myself, but if I speak about something, I prefer to speak openly than to say like the PR statements or something like this.”