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Daniil Medvedev is known for his different gestures and unique celebrations after winning matches and tournaments. He brought out another one of those celebrations as soon as he won the ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam on Sunday, gesturing towards his box with the 'keep going sign' before giving them a thumbs up for the victory.
The Russian tennis star later revealed the reason behind using the 'keep going' or 'continue' gesture as his winning celebration after beating Jannik Sinner in the final, and it had something to do with a conversation he had with coach Gilles Cervara before the tournament.
"That was pretty funny, but its turned out to be a positive thing," Daniil Medvedev said in his post-match conference, referring to his new celebration.
Explaining how that celebration came to be, Medvedev revealed that he did not feel confident about his level of tennis before the tournament started, and coach Cervara simply urged him to 'continue' and try his best.
"Before the tournament, my coach has to tell me something, I was not feeling well in terms of my tennis. He was like, 'Just, you know, continue'," Medvedev explained.
Medvedev's worries continued early in his first match in Rotterdam against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina as he dropped the opening set 6-4, which prompted him to sarcastically gesture towards his coach and the rest of the team that the mantra of 'continue' will lead to him losing the match in straight sets.
However, Medvedev was able to find his feet, beat Davidovich Fokina, and go on to clinch the title by dropping only one more set in his next four matches. The former world No. 1 thus realized that his coach's mantra worked and decided to use it as his celebration after winning match point.
"During the first match, especially after the first set, I was showing him that if I continue like this it's going to be 6-4, 6-4 for the guy because I just lost the first set 6-4," Medvedev expressed.
"And so when I won the first match, I was like, okay, 'continue' worked, and finally it worked throughout the whole tournament."
"Tough to come back after you drop out of the Top 10" - Daniil Medvedev after winning ABN Amro Open
Daniil Medvedev admitted that he faced a mental challenge after dropping outside the Top-10 of the ATP rankings with a third-round loss at the 2023 Australian Open. Now that he is back inside the Top-10 courtesy of the title in Rotterdam, the new world No. 1 has also regained his confidence and aims to build on his newfound momentum at the Qatar Open this week.
"Mentally it’s tough to come back after you [drop out] of the Top 10," Daniil Medvedev said in his on-court victory speech after Sunday's final.
"I’m just happy to find my form and am looking forward to the next tournament and hopefully I can continue in this way."
Seeded third at the Qatar Open, Medvedev will open his campaign in the Round of 16 against either Liam Broady or Oleksii Krutykh. He could then face fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals in Doha, where his compatriot Andrey Rublev is the top seed.
