Daniil Medvedev’s fiery reputation appears to be rubbing off on his daughter, who gave her coach a hilarious reminder of the Russian’s famous temperament during a tennis practice session.
Medvedev was speaking after reaching the fourth round of the US Open when he was asked whether playing a five-set Grand Slam match or spending a day at home with his daughters was more demanding mentally.
The question prompted the 2021 champion to share an amusing story about one of his daughter’s trips to practice. “Oh my God, they are both tough. Impossible to say,” Medvedev said during his on-court interview.
“I have to say the day at home with the family. Even if sometimes, you know, with the daughter mentally can be tough and some days are amazing. It’s, at the end of the day, it’s always a nice experience.”
Medvedev said the comparison was not entirely fair because a tough day with his family still ends on a positive note, unlike a painful defeat after five sets.
“I have to be honest, when you lose a five-set, at the end of the day, it’s a very bad experience. Your body hurts, your mind hurts, you lost a match, you have to go home, you have to, I don’t know, book your tickets, think about how you practice the next days, what you do. So definitely better to be at home with the family.”
He then recalled taking his daughter to a clay-court practice session. She was enjoying herself and, despite not really watching her father’s matches yet, suddenly decided to throw a racket across the court.
“I have one funny story, because again, I don’t like to talk too much about my family. But I took her to practice once. It was on clay, and she comes and she’s happy to play tennis,” Medvedev said.
“She doesn’t really watch my matches yet, and, you know, even if sometimes I break a racket, it’s not like every match I throw the racket 65 times.”
The funniest part, according to Medvedev, was that his daughter was not angry or frustrated when she launched the racket. She was simply having fun.
“And then she’s happy, so she did it not out of frustration, but she throws the racket through the whole court. And the coach, the lady, looks at me and says, ‘I don’t know where she got this from.'”
The comment clearly struck a chord with Medvedev, whose own racket-throwing incidents have become part of his on-court reputation.
The Russian joked that his daughter could provide plenty of entertainment if she eventually takes up tennis seriously.
“So yeah, that’s how she is. So probably, you know, if she plays tennis, you guys are going to have a lot of fun.”
The story came as Medvedev enjoyed one of his strongest Grand Slam runs in recent months. He beat 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to book his place in the fourth round without dropping a set.
The seventh seed had gone beyond the third round only once in his previous seven Grand Slam appearances and suffered a first-round exit at the US Open last year.
He has looked a different player in New York this time. The straight-set win over Rinderknech moved him to No. 5 in the live rankings, while an increasingly open draw has given the former champion a chance to make another deep run.
Medvedev has already played two US Open finals, winning the title in 2021 and finishing runner-up in 2019 and 2023. With only three former Grand Slam champions left in the men’s draw, he will be hoping his latest resurgence can carry him all the way to another title challenge.
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