Australian Open final 2022: Daniil Medvedev says he could quit Grand Slam tennis over crowd behaviour

Daniil Medvedev has claimed he may shirk grand slams to play in his home country, and says his passport is a key reason why fans are actively barracking against him.

Melbourne’s “disrespectful” tennis crowds are set to drive Daniil Medvedev out of grand slams, with the Russian’s long-held dreams of dethroning the world’s best players fading in the sea of boos he received at Rod Laver Arena.

The defeated Australian Open finalist made the stunning revelation that he would prefer to play in front of home crowds in Moscow rather than at Roland Garros or Wimbledon after feeling deceived by the narrative that tennis was crying out for a new breed of champions.

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“The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself,” Medvedev said at 2.30am on Monday morning.

“From now on I’m playing for myself, for my family, to provide (for) my family, for people that trust in me (and) of course for all the Russians, because I feel a lot of support there.

“If there is a tournament on hard courts in Moscow before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I’m going to go there even if I miss Wimbledon or Roland Garros or whatever.”

Daniil Medvedev coughed up a two sets to love lead and then took aim in his press conference.

Medvedev claimed the fact he held a Russian passport was being used against him.

“I think nationality plays a key,” he said.

“I can definitely see when you play somebody from another country, they would go for them and not for Russian.”

Medvedev pleaded with chair umpire John Blom to control the 12,000 fans who were cheering almost every mistake he made in the epic final against Rafael Nadal.

“Empty brains … their lives must be very bad,” Medvedev said to Blom during Nadal’s stunning comeback from two sets down.

Daniil Medvedev has warned he may miss grand slams to play for himself. Picture: AFP

Medvedev stopped short of directly linking the crowd abuse to his waning passion.

But pressed on the unsavoury boos, he said: “I’m just going to give one small example.

“Before Rafa serves, even in the fifth set, there would be like one guy screaming, ‘C’mon, Daniil’, and a thousand people would be like, ‘Tsss, tsss, tsss’.

“It’s disrespectful, it’s disappointing. I’m not sure after 30 years I’m going to want to play tennis.”

Medvedev had a tumultuous relationship with crowds at the Australian Open. Picture: AFP

When the 25-year-old broke into the top 20 he was “pumped” at the challenge of taking down slam kings Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

But the reigning US Open champion said the push for a new wave of stars had been proven false by the cold treatment he had received.

“Well, I guess these people were lying because every time I stepped on the court in these big matches, I really didn’t see much people who wanted me to win,” he said.