Medvedev makes a sad admission after ATP Finals loss to Fritz: “I feel zero pleasure of being on court”

For a sportsperson, losing is undoubtedly a sad affair but not finding the motivation to avoid a loss is worse and Daniil Medvedev, the world No 4 from Russia, seems to be lacking the inspiration.

Medvedev got off to a rough start at the 2024 ATP Finals as he faltered against No 5 seed Taylor Fritz on Sunday (November 10), going down 6-4, 6-3 against the American in the round-robin meeting of Ille Nastase Group without converting a break point. The Russian produced flashes of brilliance during the match but lost looking ugly.

Most notably, No 4 seed failed to outperform Fritz in long exchanges, usually the Russian’s stronghold, and later blamed it on the balls.

“The balls make that everyone can do it now. So not at all surprised,” he said during his post-match press conference in Turin.

The Russian ended the match with eight double faults contributing to his 24 unforced errors. Mistakes aside, what hurt his cause the most was his mentality as he went through multiple outbursts during the Sunday matchup.

It all began with Medvedev destroying his racquet on losing the opening set with three double faults in a row.

It worsened when a lob from Fritz flew over Medvedev’s head in the sixth game of the second set, leading to the latter losing his serve. The shot triggered the 28-year-old as he flung his racquet to the backcourt before smashing a microphone.

The Russian’s action led to a point penalty which further prompted him to mess around the baseline. He tossed his racquet in the air on multiple occasions and once stood holding it upside down while Fritz prepared to serve.

It surfaced after the match that Medvedev has been fighting his emotions for a while now.

“I have this every day, day in, day out, since like two, three years,” he added in the presser. “Every practice is a struggle. Every match is a struggle. I was holding for long time. Now I feel zero pleasure of being on the court. So no surprise at all about the match today.”

Medvedev “happy” to go on a holiday at the earliest

Further during the press conference on Sunday, Medvedev recalled being a former champion at the year-end championships:

“It’s the first time I say it. Usually, like, ATP Finals were not easy for me. The only time I won it was when the year [2020] started US Open, so it’s a little bit different.”

However, he made a sad admission about no longer being hungry for wins, seemingly expressing his discontent over the balls in use on the ATP Tour again.

“But like I always fight,” Medvedev added. “As I said, since long time I fight with something that doesn’t depend on myself. I’m a good fighter. I am still 4 in the world. Might be 5 if Taylor plays good here. Still pretty decent. I’m sure a lot of guys would like it.

“But now I’m tired to fight it. I’m tired to fight against something that doesn’t depend on myself. I’ll see how it goes. Today actually I had my chances. I’ll have them the next matches. If it doesn’t work out, I go on holiday. I’m happy.”

Medvedev has two more opponents in the form of world No 1 Jannik Sinner and Australian Alex de Minaur to fight at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, and needs to win against both to stand a chance of making the knockouts.

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