Daniil Medvedev news: Former world No 24 slams Russian over his reaction to Australian Open final booing

Ayanda Frances Felem
Daniil Medvedev loses his cool

Jamie Hampton has slammed world No 2 Daniil Medvedev following the comments he made about the crowd after the Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal at Melbourne Park.

The Spaniard defeated Medvedev 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to claim a men’s record 21st Grand Slam title.

After his loss against Nadal, the Russian called the crowd at Rod Laver Arena “disrespectful” and branded them “idiots with empty brains” after fans were largely in favour of the world No 5 Nadal in the epic final match that lasted just over five hours.

Former women’s world No 24 Jamie Hampton has taken to social media to defend the Spaniard, saying after he was accused of different things over the years he has never given the crowd a reason to boo him.

“Rafa was branded the antagonist to Roger’s hero when people realized that he was going to be great,” said the American.

“He was openly accused of steroids, made fun of for what he wore, his routines, his fist-pumping, etc. and I can’t remember a single time he ever gave the crowd a reason to boo him.”

The Spaniard who rewrote the history books Down Under to become a 21-time Grand Slam champion, moved one clear of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the Slam race.

Hampton, who officially called time on her career in 2020 due to various injuries, added that one cannot blame the crowd when things go wrong.

 

“He went about his business, very rarely got into it with the umpires, and the crowd adores him now. I’m the last person to say a player has to behave perfectly, I don’t believe that at all. Players are free to behave how they want, but there are consequences,” she concluded.

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