Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev have had a rocky relationship on the tennis court. Over the years, both players have climbed to the top of men’s tennis, with Medvedev winning the 2021 US Open and reaching five other Grand Slam finals, while Tsitsipas made it to the finals of the 2021 French Open and 2023 Australian Open.
Their rivalry is famous for intense matches filled with drama. One memorable clash occurred at their first meeting during the 2018 Miami Open, where Medvedev was upset after claiming that Tsitsipas called him a "bull***t Russian" during their match in Florida.
Medvedev won that match 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and told Tsitsipas to "shut your f**k up," calling him a "small kid who doesn’t know how to fight." Another incident happened at the 2022 Australian Open semifinal when Medvedev got angry at an umpire for not stopping Stefanos’ father from coaching him during their match.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| gr Stefanos Tsitsipas | 26 | 3,740 | 28 - 10 |
Header Text: A Rivalry Full of Drama
In their recent encounter at the Shanghai Masters round of 16, Medvedev overcame an injury concern to beat Tsitsipas again, improving his record against him to 10-4. During this match, Stefanos wasn’t mad at Daniil but rather upset with Irish umpire Fergus Murphy for giving him a time violation.
Interestingly enough, Tsitsipas now speaks more kindly about Medvedev. He admits he once criticized Daniil’s unusual playing style but now believes he was wrong. Fans might find it surprising that these two fierce rivals are showing respect toward each other.
"I think there are a lot of perhaps things that he has brought into the game that are quite unorthodox," said Tsitsipas. "In the past I might have said some mean stuff about his game… I think I was completely wrong in that."
Tsitsipas also acknowledged how unique Medvedev is as a player: "There’s a lot of interesting things in his game… it gives tennis another dimension."
When asked if they were friends now due to their improved relationship, Stefanos clarified by saying he respects Daniil more than before: "We’ve had some heated things on-court in the past… those things have resolved themselves over time."
What do you think? Are these two rivals finally finding common ground?
