1516Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev in the 2019 Tennis U.S. Open finals. Nadal took victory in five sets: 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4. Coming into the US Open, Nadal and Medvedev were the two most anticipated players in male tennis.
Nadal had won the previous major tennis event, Roland-Garros, also known as the French Open. Medvedev had also got into finals at four events over the summer hardcourt season, with one title at Western & Southern Open, also known as the Cincinnati Open.
Just before the U.S. open, Nadal was ranked number two in the world, with a total of 7,945 points, while Medvedev was ranked number five in the world, with a total of 4,125 points.
In addition to the gap between world ranking, Medvedev had a few other disadvantages going into the match, having played 15 matches in 19 days, while Nadal had played less than 10 matches.
In the earlier stages of the U.S. Open, Medvedev reacted rather harshly to a fan booing him by flashing him a middle finger. This caused the crowd to be against Medvedev for the rest of the tournament, taunting him every time he started to serve. Making such noises not only throw off a player’s serving routine, it also greatly influences their focus. However, despite all these setbacks, Medvedev mounted a comeback and eventually won the game.
According to freshman Max Jang, an experienced tennis player who participated in Tri-Cities 2019, the crowd in a tennis game plays a big role in the outcome of the game. “It mainly affects my determination and morale; if the crowd boos me, it really kills my morality.” Morality and morale carry different meanings.
Based on his behavior in the previous rounds of the tournament, people expected Medvedev to react rather bitterly towards the crowd in his ceremonial speech after losing against Nadal. However, Medvedev did the exact opposite and delivered a speech that shocked everyone.
He started off his speeching by congratulating Nadal on his 19th major, and jokingly complimenting him by saying that playing against him is “like a joke” and “extremely tough.” In the last part of his speech, he addressed his behavior in the past rounds of the tournament and apologized for his poor behavior.
“I know earlier in the tournament I said something kind of in a bad way and now I’m saying it in a good way. It’s because of your energy, guys, I was here in the final. And, I mean, tonight is going to be always in my mind because I played in the biggest court in tennis world and in the third set where, as I say, I was already thinking which speech should I give, you guys were pushing me to prolong the match because you want to see more tennis and because of you guys I was fighting like hell.” Instead of putting this here, you should add a proper conclusion. The quote just hangs in here without a specific purpose.
The image you put up should not be there if you want it to be a featured image.
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