‘Except Alexander Zverev, 98 of 100 players love Daniil Medvedev’ – Netflix’s portrayal of the Russian slammed

Former world No 9 Andrea Petkovic has blasted Netflix for their portrayal of Daniil Medvedev in their Break Point series, claiming it has damaged the Russian’s reputation.

The retired star, who now works as a tennis analyst, proclaimed Alexander Zverev is the only one out of 100 players who does not “love” Medvedev.

The second season of Netflix’s Break Point documentary series, which has since been cancelled, was released ahead of the 2024 Australian Open in January.

One episode focuses on Zverev’s comeback from the ankle injury he suffered at the 2022 French Open and features his loss to Medvedev at the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters. The German was critical of Medvedev’s behaviour following the pair’s clash in Monaco.

“Look, Medvedev is one of the best players in the world, but I also think that a lot of things that Medvedev does are frustrating at times,” Zverev said.

“He’s someone who knows how to play with the head of the opponent. I think there are a lot of unfair things happening in the game that he uses quite well to his advantage.

“I like to win and lose by playing tennis. I’m not someone who tries to do dirty games just to put your opponent off. That’s not how I was taught the game.”

Later in the episode, Zverev suggested that Medvedev’s first round loss to Thiago Seyboth Wild at last year’s French Open was a result of “karma” because of his apparent “dirty” tactics.

Netflix received heavy criticism from tennis fans, who felt the depiction of Medvedev as a villain in comparison to Zverev was extremely unfair and inaccurate. The streaming giant had already received a backlash for featuring Zverev in the series due to the abuse allegations against him from two women, which he denies.

This situation made the pair’s bitter rivalry a big talking point at the Australian Open, where Medvedev came back from two sets down to beat Zverev in a marathon semi-final.

Speaking on Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Petkovic expressed her anger at Medvedev’s portrayal as she discussed interactions she has had with viewers of the episode.

“Talking to people that are not in tennis, that just watched the series came up to me and, like, ‘Medvedev is such an a***ole.’ I would be like, ‘What?’ [They’d be like] ‘Yeah, he’s the worst!’ [I’m like] ‘Don’t say this ever, ever again!’,” the German revealed.

“Three months later, it makes me angry, because that time I just thought, ‘Ugh, bad portrayal, let’s move on.’ You can’t put one of the guys, who is the most beloved on the ATP… yes he has weird quirks, every player has… Except Zverev, 98 out of 100 players love Medvedev.

“In every single interview, they are like, ‘Who’s the funniest? Medvedev’, ‘Who’s the smartest? Medvedev’, ‘Who’s the coolest? Medvedev’… he wins every single time, and then Netflix goes ahead and portrays him as the villain? Honestly, F you Netflix. F you.

“I really have to say, this makes me really angry. I didn’t understand the extent of what Netflix has done to Medvedev’s reputation until I talked to a few people, who are not in tennis.

“Because I’m so much in tennis that everyone I talked to was like, ‘Ah, yeah, it was a bull***t portrayal, and we moved on ’cause Medvedev is a great guy.'”

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