LONDON – Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas says he hopes that his
maiden victory over rival Daniil Medvedev will forgive his past
behaviour towards the Russian.
The 21-year-old had not beaten Medvedev in five previous meetings
until claiming a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win against the world number four on
Monday, and they do not have the best relationship.
In their first encounter at the Miami Masters in 2018, Tsitsipas
allegedly called Medvedev a "bullshit Russian" after losing the game.
This fuelled an angry outburst which Medvedev launched towards the
umpire, who had to step between the players.
Reflecting on the match, which he lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, Tsitsipas said
he "got pissed and said what I said, which I do regret, but at the
time I was very frustrated that things happened this way."
"I completely forgot about the past. I mean, our chemistry definitely
isn't the best that you can find on the tour. It just happens with
people that it's not that you can just like everyone," he added.
"It's not that I hate him. As he said, we will not go to dinner
together."
Before they met at the Finals, Tsitsipas lost to Medvedev in the
semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, which the 23-year-old went on to
win in his second 1,000-point title.
"I learned from my previous mistakes in Shanghai," Tsitsipas said.
"I remember coming out of my match in Shanghai against him and saying
to my coach that things are going to be different next time. And they
did prove to be different."
When Tsitsipas was asked what it meant to beat Medvedev for the first
time, he added: "It's a victory that I craved for a long time now,
and it's great that I came in at this moment.
"I respect him, for sure. He's a grand slam finalist, so that takes a
lot of respect from me to him."