Daniil Medvedev has explained he will respond to people who mock him during and outside tennis tournaments after video footage of him confronting a fan at the Canadian Open emerged.
Following his loss to Nick Kyrgios last Wednesday, a man was seen chanting “loser” at Medvedev outside of the tennis stadium where people gather before and after the matches.
Medvedev confronted him as the pair had a conversation that lasted a minute before, the world No. 1 walked away.
“After the match, [I was] a little bit disappointed, a little bit of adrenaline going up and somebody mocked me,” Medvedev told the press.
“It does not matter after the match, on the tennis tournament, on the street, in my house – if somebody is going to mock me, I am going to respond.”
Medvedev has revealed the person he reacted to also had his father with him, who also said “something” to him.
“I went to the guy and said: ‘what is your problem? Why are you saying such things?’,” continued Medvedev. “And he barely spoke English.
“The only bad thing about the situation [was] because then I asked him, ‘come, why you said this?’ and he said, ‘why?’ And I said, ‘look, you should not do it.’
“There were people around saying that he should apologise. But, in general, it does not matter. The only thing that concerns me a little bit was that his father [was also present] and he was saying something to me also.”
The 26-year-old said it was one of the first times a fan has chanted something negative at him and he has urged people to “educate” their children to show more respect.
“I do not know, if or when I will have kids, I am sorry, I am not going to educate them to say some bad things to other people and shout at them,” concluded Medvedev.
KYRGIOS DEFENDS MEDVEDEV
After seeing the footage, Kyrgios, who beat Medvedev, defended his opponent and also called on fans to not disrespect players.
Kyrgios tweeted about the incident, writing: “Disgusting behaviour. This is the best we have in the sport, fans need to show some respect.”
Medvedev and Kyrgios will both play at the Cincinnati Masters this week, where they could meet in the semi-finals should the pair come through their earlier matches.
