“M. Night Shyamalan, come on, start casting Daniil Medvedev!” Apparently, the kind of script the Russian came up with in an on-court interview after his second match at the 2026 US Open on Wednesday could have the makings of a perfect Hollywood plot, and the interviewer clearly saw it that way. And maybe he thought it was good enough for a Shyamalan movie.

After his victory, which moves him into the US Open Round of 32, Medvedev was asked during an official on-court post-match interview whether he would rather play the hero or the villain if the US Open were a movie. His answer, shared on the US Open X page, was one of the more entertainingly detailed responses you will hear in any sport. 

“It’s super easy,” Medvedev said. “For about 50% of the movie, you know, this kind of movie where you don’t know what the ending is and you try to guess who is the bad guy. I wanna be the guy who you’re gonna watch the movie and almost till the end think he’s a bad guy; he’s not good. Then, at the last second of the movie, you understand that he was the best guy ever. He was really good. And it was some other guy who was the villain. This would be perfect.”

The match that preceded this rather entertaining question-and-answer session was a dominant straight-sets victory for Medvedev over American wild card Sebastian Gorzny. The 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 victory definitely looked on the scoreboard like a routine win. However, while it actually was, the match itself included enough classic Medvedev quirk to keep things interesting, even if it never quite matched the misunderstood anti-hero plotline he described afterward.

In the second set, a pair of birds flew down and landed directly on the net during a live rally. As a result, Daniil Medvedev, who had actually hit a winner, had to replay the point upon the umpire’s instruction. But of course, he took that as a chance to jokingly protest, asking why the point was stopped after his shot.

All in all, it was a comfortable and thoroughly entertaining evening for Medvedev, and for the fans watching. The game came with enough quirky moments to keep everyone engaged, even when the outcome never appeared to be seriously in doubt. He now advances to Round 3 of the 2026 US Open, where he is scheduled to face 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech of France.

However, in stark contrast to his smooth run this year, Daniil Medvedev had a spectacular first-round meltdown and exit at the 2025 US Open. He suffered a shocking five-set opening-round loss to unseeded Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, falling 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 0-6, 6-4, and perhaps that loss brought out the villain side of him, as the match actually became infamous not just for the upset, but for pure Medvedev theatrical drama.

“It’s Better to Stay Calm”: Daniil Medvedev Trying to Rein in His Emotions After 2025 US Open Meltdown

Many would definitely remember Daniil Medvedev’s 2025 US Open campaign for quite a number of his fiery moments. Notably, while his opponent, Benjamin Bonzi, was serving for match point in the third set of their game, Medvedev went into absolute fury mode when the umpire granted Bonzi a new first serve due to a disruption by a courtside photographer who accidentally stepped onto the live court. In fact, Medvedev’s heated argument with chair umpire Greg Allensworth went on for six minutes.

Also, after ultimately losing the fifth set, a completely unhinged Medvedev threw six rackets into the stands for fans and repeatedly smashed his game racket against the player bench, reportedly injuring his own hand in the process. And as a result of these explosive displays of unsportsmanlike conduct and racket abuse, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) slapped him with a whopping $42,500 fine. That chewed up nearly 40% of his tournament prize money.

As it stands, Daniil Medvedev appears to have resolved to now approach his matches with a greater degree of calmness. In an interview during his Brisbane International campaign in January, he expressed his desire to manage his emotions better. Although he admitted that his emotions are an important part of who he is, he also acknowledged that they can sometimes become too much and even cost him valuable energy and concentration during matches.

“The most important is I always stay true to myself, so meaning when I get angry and even I do bad things, well, sometimes I have to apologize, but it’s the way I am. It’s my emotions. But I also know that these emotions, they can be fun, can be a bit too much, but many times they can cost me a bit of energy and a bit of concentration during the match,” Medvedev said.

“So of course I always said it’s better to stay calm. It’s easier, but then that’s something I couldn’t do. So I’m happy that here I managed to find kind of a flow which I was following, and I do think there are so many fans around the world, so some people like angry Medvedev and some people like calm Medvedev,” he added.

It appears like the calmer version of Medvedev has been on full display across his first two games at this 2026 US Open. Hopefully, that composure can continue through the remainder of his campaign and keep the more explosive version of the Russian star at bay.