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Meet Daniil Medvedev’s French Coach Who Once Stormed Off the Court After Verbal Humiliation From the Russian

Published 01/28/2024, 12:34 AM EST

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via Reuters

Daniil Medvedev came back from two sets down to reach the Australian Open finals with a win over Alexander Zverev in five sets on Saturday. This isn’t the first time he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, he has done it several times in the past. But who has helped Medvedev continually bounce back against all the odds and sit on the verge of claiming his second major title?

Today, we’re going to talk about his French coach, Gilles Cervara who had once stormed off the court after verbal humiliation from the Russian. Cervara has been working with Daniil Medvedev since 2017. Let’s have a look at that infamous flash point between the two.

Recalling that moment when Daniil Medvedev’s act made his coach stormed out of the court during the match

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Daniil Medvedev won his first ATP Tour title in the same year when Cervara joined his team. The Frenchman then guided him to his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2021. Medvedev also reached the top spot in ATP rankings with the help of Cervara. However, an infamous incident relating the two had once left the viewers baffled.

via Imago

It happened in the 2021 Australian Open when Daniil Medvedev was playing against the Serbian, Filip Krajinovic in the third round of the tournament. After comfortably winning the first two sets. The Russian looked a bit shaky in the third and had lost the third and fourth set of the match. The 27YO was even seen yelling at his coach “Just let me play”. He asked him to be quiet after losing the third set. They got engaged in a verbal spat and later on, Cervara packed his bag and walked straight out of the stadium in the middle of the fourth set.

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However, after the match, Medvedev said, “He said just before leaving that he was sure I was gonna win the match. But he was gonna leave me alone to be more calm actually. I won’t tell more because that was a good thing to do and luckily I won.”

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Cervara was chosen as the Coach of the Year in the 2019 ATP Awards and was also nominated for it 2020 and in 2021 for his work with Daniil Medvedev. Recently he spoke about his player in an interview and here’s what he had to say on Medvedev.

‘ it’s not against me, and I know it’ – Cervara knows Medvedev

The Frenchman recently explained why he doesn’t mind when Medvedev directed his frustration towards his coaching team. He said, “Well, when it happens, I’m always thinking, okay, because I know when he get upset like this. I mean, it’s not against me, and I know it. So, I know that he’s in trouble, he has no solution, and that’s why he react like this. I know Daniil, I know how it works with him. I try to adapt with the situation and what he says is very important.”

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Cervara went on to add, “He’s an amazing fighter. He really wants to win all the time, so he doesn’t give anything to the opponent.” He stressed on having a good connection with Medvedev and said they have a good bond and are on goal altogether.

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Written by:

Sayantan Roy

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Tennis has been my passion since my childhood. My sheer love and enthusiasm for the racket sport has been a major influence in me wanting to build a career in sports journalism. Additionally, being a die-hard Real Madrid fan makes me more connected to my tennis idol-Rafael Nadal, who himself is a huge Los Blancos fan and a contender to become its next President.
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Edited by:

Ananya Giri