What did Alexander Zverev say to draw the ire of Daniil Medvedev?

ATP Tour
Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev chatting

Daniil Medvedev let rip on Friday as he slammed Alexander Zverev after the German called him an “unfair player”, but what exactly set off the cold handshakes and controversial comments?

The duo met in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday and it was quite an entertaining affair as they slugged it out for more than three hours with Medvedev saving two match points during his three-set win.

There were the usual antics from Medvedev as he was booed by spectators, at one point he removed one of the net poles and he also took a toilet break midway during the deciding set.

The 2021 US Open champion’s behaviour did not impress Zverev and their post-match handshake at the net could best be described as cold, but that is usually where the drama ends as what happens on the court, stays on the court.

Or so we thought as Zverev took things further as he did not hold back during a post-match interview.

But what exactly did the German say for Medvedev to hit back in such stunning fashion?

“He is one of the most unfair players we have in the world,” Zverev said. “He tries to do everything when he’s behind. He did it in Indian Wells, he did it here.”

The 25-year-old continued: “I take fairness and sportsmanship very, very seriously and unfortunately he has none of that.”

“The rivalry we have is incredible. We’ve played each other so many times, but one of the reasons why Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal] were so popular and the rivalry was appreciated all over the world was because they were always fair to each other.

“Unfortunately you can’t say that about him and that’s just a real shame for me as an athlete.”

Medvedev’s response was brutal as he accused Zverev of “living in his own world” and urged him to “look at yourself in the mirror”.

READ MORE: Daniil Medvedev slams Alexander Zverev over ‘unfair’ comment

The Russian clearly didn’t like Zverev’s comments as he even referred to it after his quarter-final defeat at the hands of Holger Rune on Friday.

During the post-match handshake Medvedev jokingly told Rune “you played unfair” and the pair laughed about it.

Medvedev and Zverev will definitely not be sending each other Christmas cards over the next few years as the former added: “It doesn’t disappoint me at all, but again, if in one week he’s going to continue saying, well, I’m going to going to come to him in the locker room and say ‘let’s discuss what’s wrong’.

“Tell me, I’m gonna tell you, and maybe we never gonna speak again and we are gonna be enemies or whatever. But at this moment I don’t care much.”

Alexander Zverev Daniil Medvedev

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