Daniil Medvedev may struggle a bit when he hears the name of Novak Djokovic after the Serbian sensation stopped him in the recent Australian Open final. Nevertheless, the Russian champion was grateful after Novak Djokovic convinced the ITF to reschedule the matches of the Olympic Games.
For some strange reasons, the matches in Tokyo were initially scheduled to commence at 11 o’clock when the weather was incredibly hot. Fortunately, Novak Djokovic was extremely vocal in helping the players to compete later in the day. Novak’s complaint was well received and on Wednesday the matches started at 3pm.
Daniil Medvedev still lost his match against Pablo Carreno-Busta, but he was happy with the rescheduling to comment:
“Novak is the man, thanks to him. I didn’t enjoy the conditions still, but it was much better than playing at 11,” he explained.
“I changed everything I had. I wanted to change my skin because I was sweating like I never did before. It was terrible,” he added.
Daniil Medvedev in 2021
At the moment ranked no.2 (career-high), Medvedev played his last match on the 29th of July when he was overcome by world no.11 Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-2 7-6(5) in the quarter in Tokyo (draw).
Presently, during this year Daniil has a compiled 32-9 win-loss record. Medvedev conquered 2 titles in 2021 in Marseille and in Mallorca. Daniil got to the final at the Australian Open.
Djokovic in Tokyo, ranking, and results in 2021
Now ranked no.1, Novak has an overall 38-3 match record in 2021. Djokovic is now competing in Tokyo where he conquered Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2, Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 6-3, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 6-1 and Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-0.
Novak Djokovic will compete against the world no.5 Alexander Zverev in the semifinal. The head to head is 6-2 for Djokovic.
Novak conquered 4 titles in 2021 at the Australian Open, in Belgrade, at the French Open and in Wimbledon. Djokovic reached the final in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia).
Djokovic 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)
Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic faced off 8 times. The head to head is 5-3 for Djokovic. Previously, the last time when they played each other, 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.
Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic |
| Embed from Getty Images |
