Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune had a cold post-match moment in Indian Wells but the Russian later clarified that it was just a misunderstanding and regretted the situation.
On Thursday evening in Indian Wells, world No. 4 Medvedev defeated seventh-ranked Rune 7-5 6-4 to progress into the semifinal.
In the very first point of the second set, both Rune and Medvedev were at the net when the Dane sent the ball directly into the Russian’s body. After winning the point, Rune quickly raised his hand to apologize to Medvedev.
But Medvedev didn’t notice Rune’s apology and he stood at the net, and when Rune turned around, he gestured toward him that he was watching him. After completing a two-set win over Rune, the 28-year-old Russian had something he wanted to tell the 20-year-old Dane at the net.
“If you wanted to talk about this in the (locker room), I didn’t hear you say sorry,” Medvedev was heard telling Rune at the net.
Responding to Medvedev’s comment, Rune tried to shut it down: “There’s no reason to talk about it. There’s just no reason to talk about it.”
The whole situation ended with Medvedev telling Rune: “Sorry man.”
Daniil Medvedev to Holger Rune at the net:
“I didn’t hear you say sorry.”
Holger: “There’s no reason to talk about it”
Medvedev: Now social media will blow up
In his post-match press conference, Medvedev was asked about his new “meme moment” and was directly asked if what happened was just a misunderstanding and if he spoke with Rune about the situation.
Answering the question, Medvedev confirmed that nothing would have happened had he noticed Rune’s apology moments after the points ended. With that being said, Medvedev regretted everything that followed as he noted that people would now likely give it too much attention.
“100%, yeah,” Medvedev said.
“The thing is that we’re living in such a world now with social media, this is probably this is going to be there for like, I don’t know, 10 years. And the good points that we had, they were amazing, gonna be in one day no one remembers.
“It is what it is. What happened on the court, it’s good that it already on the court it was, like, over. I didn’t see him say sorry, so for sure I get a ball in me, which is not a problem, this can happen. Usually sorry, sorry, whatever. I didn’t see it, but he did it.
“I didn’t know. I get crazy, I get mad. (Chair umpire) Carlos (Bernardes) tells me he said sorry, he tells me he said sorry. I say sorry that I didn’t see you say sorry. And all is done.
“I don’t think there is a continuation to this story. Yeah, hopefully.”
Medvedev on if he has something against Rune
Rune, who will be turning 21 in April, quickly established himself as one of the best players on the Tour but he has been in some tense moments on the court. On Thursday in Indian Wells, he found himself in another such situation but this time due to a clear misunderstanding.
When asked if the situation was “something about Rune,” Medvedev underlined that he didn’t have anything personal against the Dane and that his reaction was only ignited by not seeing that the world No. 7 apologized.
“Oh, no, nothing against Holger. As I say, it’s just I didn’t see him say sorry after he went for me, you know,” Medvedev noted.
“Normally, you know — well, I’m not going to go to other situations. I think that when you say sorry usually this gets forgotten straightaway and stuff like this.
“I didn’t see it. So I got mad. But it was, it happened, and then when they both told me it happened, that’s when I was from my side, sorry for my reaction. Let’s move forward.”
Now, Medvedev owns a 2-1 head-to-head against Rune. After losing to Rune in the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal, Medvedev bounced back by beating the Dane in their next two matches at the 2023 Rome Masters and this year’s Indian Wells edition.
On Saturday, Medvedev will be clashing against American home favorite Tommy Paul in the Indian Wells semifinal. When the 28-year-old Russian and the 26-year-old American meet, it will be their third meeting. Heading into the match, the world No. 4 owns a perfect 2-0 head-to-head against the American.
If Medvedev beats Paul, he will make back-to-back Indian Wells finals – last year, he was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in his first final in the desert. On the other side, Paul would make his first Indian Wells final by beating Medvedev.
While Paul has played some great tennis in Indian Wells this year and has dropped just one set en route to the semifinal, Medvedev remains the favorite to win their match.