Tennis champ’s ‘disrespectful’ comment after wiping de Minaur off court

Daniil Medvedev has got tongues wagging with a message written on a TV camera after wiping Alex de Minaur off the court.

Alex de Minaur has crashed to his second loss of the ATP Tour finals after a red hot Daniil Medvedev came out blasting on Wednesday morning in Turin.

Medvedev was at his devastating best — and his behaviour has got tongues wagging.

The Russian showed off a new celebration where he put his fingers in his ears after winning match point in a defiant statement to his critics.

The 28-year-old followed it up with a blunt message written on the courtside TV camera where he scribbled: “Block the noise”.

The former ATP Tour finals champion also dropped a comment that many have interpreted as “disrespectful” after he said he was playing like he did not care about the result.

It was an immense turnaround for Medvedev, who lost his opening match to American Taylor Fritz.

De Minaur was powerless to stop the player he defeated at Roland Garros earlier this year.

The former US Open champion overpowered De Minaur to win 6-2, 6-4 and leave his opponent on the brink of elimination.

Daniil Medvedev is blocking out the noise. Photo: Twitter, Abastienfachan.

Daniil Medvedev celebrates winning. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images.

De Minaur will be knocked out with a match to spare if the other tie in the Ilie Nastase Group between Jannik Sinner and Fritz goes to three sets later on Wednesday morning.

Medvedev, who lifted the title in 2020, did not face a single break point and broke De Minaur’s serve three times.

The fourth seed will next face world number one and title favourite Sinner on Friday (AEDT).

Both players battled to holds in their opening service games but Medvedev broke for a 2-1 lead and never looked back.

He struck 16 winners in the first set and then lost just two points behind his serve in the second.

Australia's Alex De Minaur got Daniil Medvedev on the wrong day. Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP.

Daniil Medvedev's very clear message. Photo: Tennis Channel.

A break in the ninth game of the second set proved decisive and he closed out victory with another comfortable hold.

“Last match wasn’t good in many ways. I decided I would go on this one and kind of not care, in a good way, where whatever happens happens.

“If I lose today I probably go home on Thursday. It’s a good feeling, the seasons over. But if I win, I have a chance on Thursday. I have a chance to fight. I tried to keep it til the end because once I start winning, you start thinking ‘Ok, I can win this.’ I was like ‘no whatever, it doesn’t matter. Go for the shots and try to play your game.’ And I managed to do it til the end. Happy with the level. I’ll try to do the same the next match. So I don’t care”

His new approach was capped off with the message he chose to write on the broadcast camera.

"Block the noise" 💥@DaniilMedwed adds another iconic celebration to his collection 👉😆👈#NittoATPFinalspic.twitter.com/WPhBcTt31f

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 12, 2024

He later explained why he wrote the message instead of signing his name.

“Just good to do it sometimes, for yourself, to remind yourself that you have to do it sometimes because the more popular you become, the more fans you get, the more haters you get, the more attention you get, and sometimes even the good noise can make you off balance,” he said.

“You know you win everything and everyone thinks you’re god and something like this and you lose two matches and everybody’s like finished, your career is finished. So sometimes it’s good just to block it and I managed to do it well today.”

He confirmed his post-match celebration had been inspired by Dutch footballer Memphis Depay.

“I think a lot of football players do it,” he said.

“Maybe Memphis Depay was the first. If I understand it right, it’s about social media and stuff. After my performance against Taylor and some of my comments, I went into this match blocking the noise even from myself.

“No tantrums, just block the noise, I didn’t care what was happening on the court, just tried to play and it was a good feeling.”

De Minaur will close out the group stage with a match against Fritz.

— with AFP

Originally published as Tennis champ’s ‘disrespectful’ comment after wiping de Minaur off court