Medvedev: Rather Be Real Than Be Loved

Daniil Medvedev's inspired run to last month's US Open taught him a valuable lesson.Be true to yourself.More: Federer Wins Record 10th Basel TitleMeeting with the media ahead of the Rolex Paris Masters, Medvedev said while he welcomes crowd support, he'd rather be real than be loved."I try to be myself," Medvedev told the media in Paris. "And as I said in New York I was talking a lot, of course. But I was out and I was still myself, and everything that happened afterwards was the same."I wanted to apologize and try to erase my mistake, but I still wanted to be true to my personality. Everything I said, I was honest and the truth. And if the public loves me as I am, all the better. If they hate me because of this, then I'm sorry, but I cannot do something that is untrue to my personality to be loved by the crowd. I hope to be a good model and not to make mistakes there."

Medvedev, who was a US Open first-week villain for fingering the crowd after his win over Feliciano Lopez, emerged as a fan favorite. Medvedev turned jeers to cheers as his courage staring down one of tennis' greatest fighters prompted the 23,000 fans in attendance to salute the Russian with a sustained roar for his sheer defiance and guts in his five-set loss to Rafael Nadal.Success has prompted the man who has reached six straight finals to go undercover at times when walking the streets."Yes, more people recognize me in Russia and Europe and New York," Medvedev said. "I think in New York I had to wear a hoodie all the time. Otherwise, everybody would see me and recognize me."That's actually because I have worked so much. I have to live with it. That's part and parcel of my achievements and this is what I'm doing. "Photo credit: Christopher Levy ]]>