Daniil Medvedev discusses Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev rivalries in ‘exaggerate’ claim
Daniil Medvedev has claimed that tennis fans on social media often “exaggerate” when talking about his rivalries with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.
Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and Zverev have joined forces to compete for Team Europe at the Laver Cup in Berlin this weekend, looking to recapture the title after two straight losses to Team World.
The relationships between the three – once dubbed as the ‘NextGen’ leaders – have often been scrutinised, with a range of on and off-court controversies between the trio.
However, the former world No 1 and Tsitsipas were seen practising together this week, while the dynamic between the two, Zverev, and the rest of Team Europe has seemed friendly from an outside perspective.
Medvedev took to court for the first time on Saturday, falling in a deciding 10-point tiebreak to Team World’s Frances Tiafoe.
And, when asked about playing alongside his teammates, the 28-year-old suggested that social media had fuelled excessive rumours of feuds between the trio.
He said: “I see this in other sports and tennis also, especially with social media.
“We love to, say, something happens, let’s say scream [sic] at an umpire, something that’s not good, and then for 10 years we put [it] on TikTok, Instagram, this video they remake it with music etc – we exaggerate things.
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“What happened with me, Sascha, and Stefanos, is just, yeah, we played some matches, sometimes we had some fights, sometimes someone said something in the press conference, and it’s okay – in one month, we don’t remember it too much, but we’re still rivals.
“But people tend to exaggerate: ‘Oh my God, they hate each other, it’s such a crazy thing.’
“No, it’s okay – we respect each other. Here, I think we support each other like never before, it’s a funny feeling.”
Team Europe are strong favourites to win the Laver Cup, but you can use a betano promo code to capitalise on what is predicted to be a procession to victory. But it being a team event does change the dynamic somewhat, something that Medvedev spoke about earlier in the week.
In his second Laver Cup appearance, the Russian admitted it was a “strange feeling” to compete alongside ATP rivals.
“You know some of the opponents, maybe when you see them in your part of the draw, you want them to lose sometimes so you’re going to have an easier draw or something.
“Here that’s not the case. You want everyone on your team to win and it’s a pretty strange feeling in a way, but for sure Team World got the last two wins, so we’re going to bring this one back to Europe.”
Medvedev is in action again on Sunday, facing Ben Shelton.
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