“Russian Neymar”! Elena Vesnina Records Daniil Medvedev Playing Football at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Russian tennis contingent at the Tokyo Olympics this year is one of the strongest in comparison to other countries. With the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, etc., they are sure to win a medal or two for their country.

Watch this story: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Gael Monfils, and Others with best shots at Wimbledon Championships 2021

All the Russian players entered the Olympics with a fair bit of momentum from their performances on the respective tours(WTA &ATP). While Medvedev made it to the fourth round at SW19, Pavlyuchenkova reached the finals of French Open.

Legendary doubles player Elena Vesnina also reached the finals of Wimbledon doubles’ event along with compatriot Veronika Kudermetova. Altogether, the Russian tennis team are looking to go big at Tokyo this coming week.

Daniil Medvedev fails to hit a goal during team practice at Tokyo Olympics

At the Olympics village where players were allowed to practice, world number two Daniil Medvedev decided to show off his football skills along with teammates.

With Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev alongside him, the Russian tried to hit a goal as Vesnina was capturing all the fun.

“Russian Neymar!!”, said Vesnina as she records Medvedev hitting a goal.

Medvedev could be seen screaming at the top of his lungs as he missed the goal. From the clip above, it appeared that the goal-keeper was Andrey Rublev.

Known for always portraying a serious demeanor on-court, Medvedev has a quirky side which was rarely revealed on the ATP tour.

While his outbursts on-court were the ones that get most of the attention, fans also got to see the fun side of Medvedev on several occasions as well.

Seeded second in the men’s singles draw at Tokyo Olympics, Medvedev can pose a serious threat to Novak Djokovic in his pursuit of winning the gold medal.

Considering the fact that all the tennis matches played in Tokyo will be best of three sets, the Russian will have a definite chance of beating the best in the draw.

Coming to Medvedev’s performances this year, he managed to make his debut quarter-final entry at the French Open, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Making the last eight on a clay-court tournament was a good-result for the Russian considering his previous record on the red turf.

Post Tokyo Olympics, Daniil Medvedev will have a lot of points to defend due to his incredible hard-court performances in 2019. It will be interesting to see whether the Russian manages to hold on to the number two spot till year-end or gives away the position to Rafael Nadal.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 Men’s Singles Seeds: Novak Djokovic Leads the Field Filled With Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Others