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Daniil Medvedev amused fans with a hilarious one-liner during the first-set tiebreaker of his championship match defeat to second-seed Carlos Alcaraz at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters on Monday (March 18).
Medvedev started his sixth career encounter against the World No. 2 on a good note, breaking his serve early in the opening set to lead 3-0. However, the Russian soon found himself out of sorts as Alcaraz broke back in the fifth game. Eventually, a tiebreaker was required to settle the set.
At 3-2 up, Carlos Alcaraz won a close point where his shot was initially called long, but just clipped the line as per a challenge by the Spaniard. Displeased by the call going against him, Daniil Medvedev remarked during the changeover that 'tennis was a s**t sport.'
The World No. 4 lost the tiebreaker seven points to five a few minutes later. The Russian never regained his momentum in the second set, which he lost in just over half an hour to drop the Indian Wells final 6-7(5), 1-6 to Alcaraz.
Daniil Medvedev, who is often revered as the pantomime villain of the ATP Tour, seemingly left many fans on X (formerly Twitter) in splits with his hilarious remark about tennis in the first-set tiebreaker, with one claiming that the 28-year-old was one of the funniest athletes in the sporting world.
"Honestly one of the funniest athletes in any sport right now," they wrote.
Another fan, meanwhile, suggested that the Russian's comment was justified.
"He's got a point, he's an icon, he's a legend, and he is the moment," they wrote.
Another fan wrote:
"So real omg."
Here are a few more reactions from social media:
Daniil Medvedev set to defend his Miami Masters crown
Daniil Medvedev will next play at the 2024 Miami Masters, which begins on Tuesday (March 19). Since Novak Djokovic withdrew from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament recently, the World No. 4 will be seeded third at the event.
Medvedev went all the way in Miami last year, beating Jannik Sinner in the championship match. He just dropped one set at the Hard Rock Stadium, to his countryman and good friend Karen Khachanov in the semifinals.
The 28-year-old will be more than eager to triumph in Miami, after his rough patch at big events lately. The Russian has dropped his last five finals; his last title came at the 2023 Italian Open in May, where he beat Holger Rune to win his first-ever tournament on clay.
