Daniil Medvedev has explained his extreme celebration after beating Arthur Fils in the Indian Wells quarter-final. It was a rollercoaster match – the Russian lead by a break in the decider and then trailed by a break before taking it in a nail-biting tiebreak. Afterwards, he leapt into the air four times on his way to shake hands with Fils.
The world No. 6 is known for having fun with his victories. When he won the US Open, he mimicked the EA FC ‘dead fish’ celebration and he sometimes pulls out unusual dances. So his outpouring of emotional left Sky Sports pundits bewildered.
Medvedev survived a tough test against Fils in Thursday’s match. The two-time finalist in Indian Wells was dragged into a deciding set, where he stormed into a 2-1 lead before trailing by a break.
The fifth seed got back on serve and managed to force a tiebreak, where he finally sealed a 6-4 2-7 7-6(7) victory on his third match point as Fils sent a volley flying beyond the baseline.
Medvedev was overjoyed with the win, launching himself into the air four times as he skipped to the net. It was a thrilling match, but the celebration quickly became the talking point.
“What a reaction!” former world No. 4 Tim Henman said on Sky Sports. “Love to see it and, also, Medvedev is a Grand Slam winner, he’s won Masters 1000s but I think, again, that’s a reflection of how desperate he is to win these tight matches.”
When Medvedev came to chat to the Sky Sports team after the match, presenter Gigi Salmon had to ask about his reaction.
“We have to start with the celebrations because we were trying to think of the last time we saw you celebrate like that, and we couldn’t think of one,” she told the fifth seed.
“I remember one against actually Andrey Rublev in US Open,” Medvedev replied. “For personal reasons, because it was the first tournament after Covid and, physically during Covid, I had some issues and I didn’t know kind of how I’m going to come back from it, and to beat him was a great match.”
The former world No. 1 then turned his attention back to his actions after beating Fils. He continued: “Anyway, yeah, I lost three matches this year which were super close, where I could’ve won, maybe should’ve won and the more you lose them, the more you lose this confidence in tight moments. So no matter how, no matter why, but I was happy.”
It’s been a tough start to the season for Medvedev. He lost in the second round of the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open. He started to show improvements in Marseille and during the Middle Eastern swing.
However, the world No. 6 suffered another tough defeat in Dubai when he blew four match points against Tallon Griekspoor. Now through to the semi-final in Indian Wells, Medvedev is happy with how he’s playing.
“Finally playing good, feeling good. So actually, for him to be a break up in the third, he was playing amazing. So I was like, ‘You know what, I’m really doing my best’,” he explained.
“I was kind of happy with my shots, I was happy with what I was doing. So I was like, ‘I will try to continue, I will try to battle and win it, and if it doesn’t work out, I will say congrats and go to the next tournament’. And I’m happy that I managed to do it.”
Medvedev will now face Holger Rune for a spot in the final. After finishing runner-up the last two years, he will hope to make it third time lucky and pick up the title in Indian Wells.
“Great competitor and top player,” the Russian said of his next opponent. “Like I think his ceiling level is very high, maybe even I would say top two, top three in the world. And if he’s in the semis, it means he’s playing his high level. So I’m looking forward to a great match, I’m feeling good too.”
