By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, October 6, 2024
Photo credit: Shi Tang/Getty
Daniil Medvedev has straddled the fine line between genius and madness.
Medvedev admits crazy can consume him sometimes.
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Medvedev overcame a couple of code violations and tough Italian Matteo Arnaldi 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, advancing to Rolex Shanghai Masters round of 16.
Afterward, Medvedev said he withstood the inner emotional conflict between calm and crazy.
"Well, that's the thing, you know, I tried many different things in my career, trying to stay calm, trying to be, sometimes, not try, but sometimes I go very crazy," Medvedev told the media in Shanghai. "And I think, you know, what works is whatever you feel like will work at this moment. It should not cross the line, that's for sure, because you can get defaulted, and that's not nice. Today I didn't."
Though the 2021 US Open champion said sometimes going bonkers can fire him up, he knows crossing the line of conduct can lead to default.
"What I did is, I got angry when they first called violation, so I made an impression that I'm saying something under my hand or under my mouth, how do you say it, but I didn't say anything, I was murmuring something like, Oh, you're bad, you're bad, you're bad," Medvedev said."Then I got the second code, which I guess could be, you know, maybe deserved, but then, and then I went crazy.
"But I knew that at this moment, if I manage the moment of the match, I lost the first set, if I manage to use it in my advantage, I could do it, and I managed to do it, so sometimes I need it. I just need to not cross the line and be friends after the match because that's how sport works also."
Medvedev will try to calm the chaos when he faces either 10th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexandre Muller for a quarterfinal spot.
"Tsitsipas likes to throw around forehand, goes to the net. Tsitsipas, it's been long time we didn't play, I think," Medvedev said. "I generally like to play him, but he's a very strong player, so it's a strong opponent for a fourth round.
"I played Alex this year at Wimbledon, and he played out of this world, and I was almost lucky, I mean, it's not luck because I fought my best and I played well also, but he played very well in Wimbledon.
"So I will look at their match, I think they're playing finally tomorrow because of the rain, so I'm going to look at their match and get ready for the winner."