Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev are the 2 top favorites to win the Olympic gold medal. However, none of them is quite impressed by how things are going in Tokyo. Both Novak and Daniil believe that the schedules need to be adjusted because it is simply too hot to play.
Novak Djokovic vs. the schedules
When asked about his opinion about revising the Olympic schedules, Novak Djokovic replied
“My team captain Viktor Troicki was speaking to the referee a couple of times. To be honest, I don’t understand why they don’t start matches at, say 3 pm. I heard for tennis there’s some kind of curfew for them to finish by midnight.
“If that’s the case, I just finished the last match. It’s not even 5pm. We still have like seven hours to play. They have the lights on all the courts. They’re going to make life much easier for all of us players. I just don’t understand why they don’t move it. I sincerely don’t understand.”
Daniil Medvedev: It’s a joke
Daniil Medvedev was particularly vocal about the overall situation. The world number 2 commented:
“We’re here and we know the matches will be early and you couldn’t practice at this time. I don’t think they’re going to change it in the middle of the tournament, but that’s what can be done and the fact we have only one minute between changeovers is a joke.
I think if you ask 200 tennis players here, I think 195 will say one minute is a joke and it should be 1:30 like it is in Asian tournaments.”
Djokovic in Tokyo, ranking, and results in 2021
At the moment ranked no.1, Novak has achieved an overall 35-3 win-loss record in 2021. Djokovic is participating in Tokyo where he ousted Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2.
Novak Djokovic will take on the world no.48 Jan-Lennard Struff in the 2nd round on Monday at 5:00 pm on Centre Court. Their head to head is 5-0 for Djokovic.
Novak clinched 4 titles in 2021 at the Australian Open, in Belgrade, at the French Open and in Wimbledon. The Serbian got to the final in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia).
The Serbian won 85 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 17 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 7 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Medvedev in Tokyo, ranking, and results in 2021
Now ranked no.2 (career-high), the Russian achieved a composed 30-8 record in 2021. The Russian is currently playing in Tokyo where he defeated Alexander Bublik 6-4 7-68.
Daniil Medvedev will fight against the world no.160 Sumit Nagal in the 2nd round on Monday at 3:00 pm on Court 1. In the past, they have never competed against each other until now in top tournaments.
Medvedev clinched 2 titles in 2021 in Marseille and in Mallorca. The Russian got to the final at the Australian Open.
Medvedev won 11 titles in his career: 4 on hard courts, 6 on indoor courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev played each other 8 times. Their actual head to head record is 5-3 for Djokovic. The last time they played, Novak Djokovic won 7-5 6-2 6-2 in the final in Melbourne (Australian Open) on the 21st of February 2021.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev |
| Embed from Getty Images |
