'Agitated' Daniil Medvedev clashes with Wimbledon fans and copies unusual Djokovic gesture
Daniil Medvedev played up to the crowd during his clash wth Jannik Sinner.
Daniil Medvedev took aim at the Wimbledon crowd during his quarter-final match against Jannik Sinner after going down a double break in the fourth set.
The No. 5 seed led by two sets to one but found himself in trouble and responded with an unusual gesture that Novak Djokovic made in his last two matches.
Medvedev pretended to play the violin as he sat down during the changeover, copying the celebration that Djokovic has been using to pay tribute to his daughter.
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Sinner looked down and out when he called the physio and doctor in the third set and left the court for around 10 minutes. He managed to get back on serve but Medvedev took it in a tiebreak, ending the Italian's streak of nine breakers unbeaten.
The Russian was closing in on his second successive Wimbledon semi-final when he led 6-7(7) 6-4 7-6(4) but the match quickly ran away from him in the fourth set.
He played a poor third game to get broken, starting with a double fault and spraying errors. And Sinner only gained momentum, racing into a 4-1 lead when Medvedev his three unforced errors to relinquish the double break.
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The former US Open champion was visibly frustrated with the crowd as he retreated to his bench after losing a fourth game in a row. He gave them a sarcastic thumbs-up and clapped his racket before drawing inspiration from Djokovic.
When he sat down, Medvedev pretended to play the violin, using his racket as an instrument. "Bit of sarcasm to his bench. But he was the problem," Simon Reed said on BBC's commentary. John Lloyd added: "Doing what Novak did, getting involved with the crowd now."
And Todd Woodbridge replied: "Well he needs that to feed off. And it’s what Novak does too and again when you need to be agitated to find some focus. Is that playing the violin, violin strings, is that what it is?"
World No. 2 Djokovic has made the same gesture after sealing his last two victories at the All England Club.
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But the reason for his unusual celebration is a heartwarming one. After he beat Alexei Popyrin in the third round, the 24-time Major winner explained that it was a tribute to his six-year-old daughter, who has just started playing the violin.
“The celebration was for Tara. She’s played the violin for a couple of months now,” he said. Djokovic did it again when he beat Holger Rune on Monday night.
Although his fake violin playing wasn't a dig at the crowd, the 37-year-old used his on-court interview to call out disrespectful fans who he claimed were booing when they cheered "Ruuuuune".
When interviewer Rishi Prasad pointed out that the fans were calling out the name of his opponent, Djokovic replied: "They were, they were, they were. I don't accept it.
"No, no, no. I know they were cheering for Rune but that’s an excuse also to boo. Listen, I’ve been on the tour for more than 20 years so I know all the tricks, I know how it works. It’s fine, it's okay."
