Rafael Nadal: ‘It’s not great that we are playing for…’

Daniil Medvedev returns. The Russian tennis player is registered, like all the greats of the men’s circuit, in this new edition of the Australian Open, as the seventh seed of the tournament. In Melbourne, the former number one will have to defend the thrilling final that he lost last year: winning by two sets, the Russian number one was outclassed by Rafael Nadal, who won the twenty-first Grand Slam title. A crazy final, which left its mark on the winner of the 2021 Us Open. In a recent interview, in fact, according to Sportskeeda, Medvedev had said that that final was difficult to beat: “Then came this final against Rafa. I would have liked to do better. Obviously, right after a loss like that in the Australian Open final, for a few days, even a few weeks, it was difficult for me. It’s complicated”. In another interview with Julie Marie on her YouTube channel, he talked about that Melbourne final again, with a slightly different point of view than her last words. When asked which match he would choose as the craziest of 2022, Daniil Medvedev does not have many doubts: “I had many, I want to say the match against Rafa. I hated that match because I lost, but it was crazy.” Always going back to the Australian Open, however, he has other memories of crazy matches played on Australian soil. “Honestly, the matches I played against Tsitsipas, twice in the semifinals, were crazy, because we know that there is a large Greek community in Australia. I think that, apart from Greece, it is the largest community in the world. When you go to the stadium, the atmosphere is crazy. I managed to win twice, so I have good memories from the semi-finals,” added the Russian number one.

Nadal lauded the level of competition 

Rafael Nadal lauded the level of competition but pointed out flaws in the format of the inaugural United Cup. “Putting things in perspective, that this competition I find a negative point, you know. Competition is great. Idea is great. It’s not great that today we are playing for nothing. I really believe – it’s the first year of this competition, so that’s kind of things that need to fix, to improve, and to make it more interesting for everyone,” Rafael Nadal stated during a post-match press conference. “I really believe that in a group of three, the loser of the first tie needs to play with the team that didn’t play yet, because that makes the competition much more interesting,” Nadal said.