Daniil Medvedev has come to Pedro Cachin’s defense as he believes the Argentinian definitely made a classy gesture when he decided to politely ask Rafael Nadal if he had something for him following their match.
Earlier this week, 29-year-old Cachin went viral after he stopped Nadal at the net following their Madrid Open third-round match and asked the 22-time Grand Slam champion if there was something he could maybe give him as a souvenir.
“Thank you very much! You’ve made my dream come true, thank you. I don’t know if this is protocol or not, but I wanted to ask you, could I keep your shirt or a towel or something?” Cachin asked Nadal at the net.
Pedro Cachin and Rafael Nadal © Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
Nadal, who claimed a 6-1 6-7 (5) 6-3 win over Cachin, came through for the Argentinian, giving the 29-year-old one of his shirts. Later, Cachin pictured the gift and posted it on his Instagram Story and also humbly expressed grattitude to Nadal for his gesture.
While many thoughts of Cachin’s act as something that was done in a humble manner, there were some who thought of the Argentinian’s move as something that a competitor should never do.
Most notably, Jiri Lehecka – who sent Nadal packing out of Madrid in the round-of-16 – said he thought of Cachin’s act as “weird” and something that he would not do after a match.
“That was pretty fun from Pedro. I felt like it was a classy move, which we don’t have in tennis. I don’t think I ever had it,” Medvedev told The National.
Medvedev thinks Cachin didn’t do anything wrong in asking Nadal for a souvenir
When addressing the Cachin and Nadal situation, former world No. 1 Medvedev revealed that there was also one situation in the past when a player asked him for a shirt. At the time, Medvedev had no issues in giving one of his shirts but he was short-handed on his shirts and politely told the player to ask him after the tournament ends.
Also, Medvedev shared that he is not into asking others for souvenirs because if he started doing that, he would start collecting it in a big way and not just from a few players.
“I think someone once asked me, it was in a Grand Slam. I don’t think I gave him because I had like five T-shirts, it was like in Australia or US Open, one of the two, and it was humid and I said, ‘Look, after the tournament ask me and I’ll do it no problem,'” Medvedev added.
“I would never have wanted to from one person. If I would do it, I would start collecting, five, 10, here and there. Not my thing to do it with one person. So I would collect many, if it would become a thing.”
Daniil Medvedev © Getty Images Sport – Christopher Pike
Ons Jabeur joins Medvedev in defending Cachin over the Nadal act
Just like Medvedev, three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur also thought that Cachin didn’t do anything wrong in asking Nadal for a souvenir.
After making that clear, former world No. 2 Jabeur revealed that she will likely be doing similar things in the future.
“I think because he’s Argentinian, and he’s into football a lot and that’s what they do in football, but I think it was a very sweet thing to have,” Jabeur said of Cachin asking Nadal for a souvenir.
“But now basically I’m going to ask every player for their T-shirt maybe. I think the most common thing in tennis would be a racquet, not a T-shirt, but definitely one day I would want to have a souvenir of the players that I like and enjoy, maybe for my academy to keep it for sure.”
Ons Jabeur© Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Earlier in the week, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek also spoke very positively of Cachin and his move. Swiatek, who grew up idolizing Nadal, admitted in a funny way that she would also pull a Cachin if she was in a situation to do so.
“If I would play against Rafa, for sure I would ask for a T-shirt. But that’s not possible,” Swiatek said with a smile on her face.
Against Nadal, Cachin had the entire stadium against him as the Madrid crowd was heavily rooting for the Spaniard in the hopes of seeing him extend his presumably last campaign at Caja Magica for at least another round. In the end, Cachin didn’t go down without a fight but Nadal managed to escape with a win and reach the round-of-16 before losing to Lehecka.
Cachin may have lost to Nadal but he competed well and took home something that will always be an outstanding piece of memorabilia.
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