Daniil Medvedev is well known for getting crowds riled up, and he didn't disappoint during his second-round loss to Grigor Dimitrov at the Paris Masters 1000 on Wednesday.
There was speculation after the match that Medvedev gave the middle finger to the crowd as he left the court following a tight 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) loss to the Bulgarian. But the Russian star, who is having another incredible year in 2023, was adamant that isn't true.
“Middle finger? No. I was looking at my nail. Why would I do that to this beautiful Parisian crowd?” Medvedev said with a smile in his post-match press conference.
Despite those comments, Medvedev was coy when asked about why he believed there was tension between he and the crowd this week.
“The tournament, the way I act, the way the crowd acts, it's like all coming together. In general, I have a lot of French friends, and they don't seem to like very much this tournament, so maybe there is a reason. Me, generally, I played much better here without the crowd so that's all I can say.”
Medvedev has had great success in France despite his comments; he won this tournament back in 2020, defeating Alex Zverev in the final, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. He was also a finalist the year after, losing to Novak Djokovic in a thrilling championship match in 2021.
Despite the disappointing result at the last Masters 1000 of the season, it was still an extremely strong 2023 campaign for Medvedev. He was victorious at both the Miami Open and Italian Open, defeating Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune, respectively.
And he also made noise at the Grand Slam level, reaching the semifinal of Wimbledon for the first time in his career. He would lose to an in-form Carlos Alcaraz, who he later got the better of in their US Open semifinal just a few months later.
Medvedev would go on to lose to Djokovic in a rematch of the 2021 US Open final, which Medvedev won in straight sets. This time, it was the Serbian who was successful, beating his counterpart in similar fashion.
Still, Daniil Medvedev has been a top-three player all season, and despite the disappointing result in Paris, he's still one of the favorites to win the ATP Finals later this month.
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