It is not a secret that Medvedev and Tsitsipas didn’t like each other much when they were starting their careers.
Daniil Medvedev jokingly said he and Stefanos Tsitsipas likely will never have a glass of wine together because he doesn’t drink wine before getting serious about their relationship and acknowledging that it has gotten much better in recent years.
If you remember well, Medvedev and Tsitsipas had a very tense moment during the 2018 Miami Masters as the Russian appeared to be on the verge of starting a fight with the Greek. Back then, Medvedev had something he wanted to tell Tsitsipas after sealing a win over him, telling him that he felt some of his actions were disrespectful and unsportsmanlike.
At the time, Medvedev also claimed that he heard Tsitsipas calling him “(expletive word) Russian.” While letting Tsitsipas hear it, Medvedev looked very irritated but the incident finished without a physical confrontation.
After that, there was another incident in 2019 when Tsitsipas called Medvedev’s game boring.
But in recent years, Medvedev, 28, and 25-year-old Tsitsipas have calmed the tensions between them. In an interview with Russian media Sport-Express, Medvedev was asked if he would now sit with Tsitsipas for a glass of wine.
“I don’t drink wine, haha,” Medvedev jokingly answered before getting serious.
“In tennis, in general, being very close friends with someone is difficult. You need to know each other for a long time, have common interests – like Andrey, Karen and Roman. It seems to me that now we (him and Tsitsipas) have a completely normal, respectful relationship.
“Who knows, maybe there will be some more controversy on the court. But, in my opinion, everything developed only in a positive direction for us. Now we respect each other as athletes and treat each other completely calmly.”
What Tsitsipas said about his relationship with Medvedev last month?
After arriving in Indian Wells for the start of the Sunshine Double, Medvedev and Tsitsipas met on the court for a joint practice session. Those two practicing together drew positive attention and one thing that made it really interesting was the fact that it happened exactly six years since their Miami incident.
To no one’s surprise, it didn’t take long before one of them was asked about their joint practice and their relationship.
“Well, it’s a long history. I mean, whatever happened, how many years ago was that? 10 years ago? It was a long time ago,” Tsitsipas said on Tennis Channel in Indian Wells.
“I guess people still expect some sort of a controversy or hatred between us two… But this has been long gone and not something I focus too much on these days actually.”
Medvedev on how he formed a strong friendship with other Russian players
On the Tour, really strong friendships between players are not that common as some have a hard time bonding with a rival or simply don’t want to be spending their free time with someone who they regularly see across tournaments.
But when it comes to Medvedev, he doesn’t have issues in that aspect as Andrey Rublev is the godfather of his daughter Alisa and one of his best friends. Also, Medvedev has a very good relationship with Karen Khachanov and Roman Safiullin.
The four mentioned Russian players are pretty much all from the same generation and knowing each other from an early age and later becoming pros led to them forming friendships.
“Yes, it’s probably hard, but it worked out that way for us because we’ve known each other since childhood. And not only Andrey and I, but the four of us, also Karen Khachanov and Roman Safiullin. We went on the court against each other from the age of 10-12, but I don’t remember any negative moments between the four of us, which I sometimes have with other tennis players on the court. And if they were, they were quickly forgotten,” Medvedev explained.
“We’ve come a long way together. We played cards starting from the age of 12, found ourselves in different tournaments, in different situations. Some performed a little better, others a little worse – but this did not affect our relationship in any way. In the end, this friendship will probably last forever. It’s never entirely known, but let’s hope. In principle, choosing a godfather was not too difficult for me.”
Meanwhile, Medvedev is starting his clay season this week at the Monte Carlo Masters. As the fourth-seeded player, Medvedev has a first-round bye in Monte Carlo and he starts against Gael Monfils in the second round.
In the past, Medvedev had two notable Monte Carlo runs as he was a semifinalist in 2019 and also reached the quarterfinal last year.
After winning his first clay title in Rome last year, Medvedev enters this clay season more confident in his clay abilities.