Watch: Daniil Medvedev hits back at rowdy Rome crowd with aggressive response
World No. 11 Daniil Medvedev faced a hostile crowd during his Italian Open 2025 pre-quarterfinal match against local favourite Lorenzo Musetti in Rome on Tuesday, May 13. Throughout the match, Medvedev was met with persistent boos and jeers from the home fans. Tensions peaked in the second set, with Musetti leading 7-5, 5-3 at the Grand Stand Arena. Frustrated, Medvedev turned to the crowd and put a finger to his lips in a defiant gesture, briefly silencing the noise. He held the pose for several moments before continuing play.advertisementWatch the video hereMedvedev knows the best on how to handle these vile crowds pic.twitter.com/eusX7zel3E— SK (@Djoko_UTD) May 13, 2025Daniil Medvedev crashes out
Medvedev had a tough day in the office after Musetti defeated him 7-5, 6-4. The Russian star tried to fight through the rainy weather in Rome, but couldn't have the last laugh. With the scorecard reading 7-5, 5-4 (30-30) in Musetti's favour, rain started pouring down. Play continued and Musetti got a point through a drop shot. With the court becoming slippery, the chair umpire decided to halt proceedings with Musetti on match point. After play resumed, the Italian engaged in a 13-shot rally with Medvedev to go past the finish line. Also Read: Novak Djokovic ends partnership with coach Andy Murray after poor start to seasonadvertisementIn the first set, Musetti drew first blood to go 5-4 up with a break of serve, but Medvedev earned the break back immediately to make it 5-5. However, Musetti shifted the pressure on Medvedev with his second break, eventually claiming the opening set. In the second, Musetti took control once again, going 1-0 up with an early break and this time around, he didn't let Medvedev stage a comeback. It was Musetti's first win over Medvedev after losses in the Cincinnati and Canada 1000 Masters in 2023. Musetti will next be up against Alexander Zverev, who defeated France's Arthur Fils in straight sets in the Round of 16. Medvedev, in the meantime, will look to make amends when the French Open gets underway later this month. Must Watch
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Andre Agassi explains why Carlos Alcaraz's backhand has more power, control and deception
Tennis legend Andre Agassi believes a tiny technical tweak in the way Carlos Alcaraz hit a backhand shot has had a profound impact on his game. Agassi, analysing Alcaraz's game on American network TNT following the Spanird's win over Lorenzo Musetti in the French Open semifinals, said the change has made him hit a return with 'more power, more control, and more deception.' His final, against Jannik Sinner, will be played on Sunday. The 1999 French Open champion compared Alcaraz's backhand shot to last year, when 'he was taking the ball up higher'. 'His right arm's a little bent, so the racket head's going up long before it comes down. He's taking it up pretty darn high. Now he has to drop it, get underneath, pull through with the right hand and finish,' Agassi said. 'The dude is so fast twitched that really what he has in his backhand there is just a variable that he doesn't need to deal with.' This year, Agassi added, it has been different. 'He takes it back with the straight right arm. His left is way under control. Like a golf swing, right? You get to the top of your swing. You have that pause and you drop in the slot and then you let it go. 'He's getting himself to that slot right away. And that's what I love about it. Because that not only gives him the option to sort of settle down some misfires, but he can hold the ball longer. Because of what he's doing, see his racket face is already closed. That ball can travel deeper. That ball travels deeper in the strike zone.' The control gives Alcaraz a chance to add deception to his shots, Agassi said, and added that most of his opponents at Roland Garros have been guessing the direction of his shots. 'They don't know if he's going to hold, pull it across, or if he's going to hold and just go inside off line. And he can just leave his opponent with their jockstrap on the ground. 'The guy can go either direction with it because in tennis power and control comes from time spent on racket with the ball. I don't care how you swing. If you swing like Nadal, if you swing through, you can keep that ball in the racket a split second longer. We're talking about nuances. You've got more power, you've got more control, and you've got more deception. So you're talking about a guy who's crazy athletic.'
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
French Open 2025: Plotting the contours of the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry - Men's tennis' new main-event
In the autumn of 2022, when 20-time Major winner Roger Federer announced his retirement, the world of tennis slipped into a state of near-eternal lament. There was the disappointment of not being able to watch one of the greatest players live anymore, but it was also about the end of the famed 40-match Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry which had defined the sport. Nadal, by then, had started hobbling again because of multiple injury setbacks and, in a curious twist of fate, did not go on to add to his then record 22 Majors. The other member of the 'Big Three', Novak Djokovic, was — and still is — around, prancing his way to the biggest titles, but the sport had seemingly lost the emotional hook that fans had hung on to for a good part of the previous two decades. Changing equation The Grand Slam tournaments — the crown jewels — where the 'Big Three' had long established fiefdoms, appeared ripe for new wannabe monarchs to battle it out. Men's tennis was expected to be chaotic, capricious and full of surprises, a far cry for those who had grown accustomed to having at least two members — if not all three — of the 'Big Three' routinely at the business end of big-ticket events. That none of this has come to pass thus far is primarily because of how seamlessly Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have filled the space and established a firm duopoly. Blessed with great court-presence and fast-developing aura, they are now the top-two players in the world, and the match-up is 11 contests young, with Alcaraz leading 7-4. The Spaniard, all of 22, and the Italian, 23, have accounted for seven of the 10 last Slams, including a clean sweep of the most recent five. There is indeed a churn one rung below, at the ATP Masters 1000 level, where 11 different victors have emerged in the last 16 tournaments. But the much anticipated — and feared — turmoil at the top has proved a chimera. History suggests that rivalries thrive when there is a dint of differentiation — right versus left; attack versus defence; net-lover versus baseline-hugger; serve bot versus return machine. But in this era of homogenisation of courts, where clay and grass are closer than ever, a one-size-fits-all style is bringing increased levels of success, and sports science and improved nutrition techniques are universally accessible, such stark contrasts seldom exist. Yet, the Alcaraz-Sinner duel works, primarily because of the sheer competitiveness the two bring to the table, the tactical excellence and subtle differences in playing styles. Of the two, Alcaraz is the more flamboyant, trick-shot-loving showman who treats the court as his own theatre of dreams. After winning his first Major on the hard courts at the US Open in 2022, he has gone on to master clay and grass and their abundant unpredictabilities, even completing the arduous French Open-Wimbledon double in 2024. Sinner, in contrast, presents a staid and emotionless persona on court, and his repeatable technique is more suited for truer surfaces, as seen from the fact that he has won the last three Slams to be held on synthetic courts. Such has been his dominance that starting from the Toronto Masters in 2023, Sinner has won 13 of 20 hard-court events he has entered (including two Davis Cups) and finished runner-up in two others. When 'opposites' collide In the recent 'Served with Andy Roddick' podcast, former World No. 1s Andre Agassi and Roddick laid this out beautifully, with Agassi calling Alcaraz 'still so raw' and Roddick likening Sinner to an 'algorithm' and 'a piece of software that went: input output input output'. 'It is amazing how little his speed diminishes on clay and grass,' Agassi said of Alcaraz. 'Most people who are fast go to grass and their speed comes down 5% just because you have to be careful in the corners. But his doesn't. I think he should maximise [his potential], and we should enjoy watching him before he maximises, because there is so much fun for the fan. 'Sinner is the exact opposite,' the eight-time Grand Slam titlist went on. '[He's] constantly maximising and never hits a ball he doesn't need to. When he does let one rip, it makes you wonder … what that gear would really look like, because he's taking 85% cuts all the time.' It is then no surprise that when these two collide, it makes for mesmerising action. Alcaraz may have the head-to-head advantage, with four consecutive wins leading into the 2025 French Open, including the Rome final last month in Sinner's first tournament back after serving a doping suspension. But at no point has the match-up suffered from one-sidedness. It helps that both have started peaking nearly at the same time — seven of their most recent matches have been semifinals or finals. Unlike the Federer-Nadal equation, or the more recent Swiatek-Gauff face-off, their initial combats were far from lop-sided. Where Nadal won six of their first seven meetings and Swiatek 11 of 12, Alcaraz and Sinner were locked at 4-4 until Roland-Garros 2024. The two are also not limited by the dynamics of the surface, thus broadening the scope of their rivalry and presenting a larger canvas to work their magic. Legends of the past such as John McEnroe and Pete Sampras were iffy on clay, and Ivan Lendl struggled on grass. Alcaraz and Sinner may have their preferences, but are consummate all-courters. They have mostly met on hard courts, fleetingly on clay and once on grass. But each has beaten the other on acrylic and dirt, with Sinner edging the lone match on grass at Wimbledon 2022, before either had won a Slam. At the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz's first Major, Sinner even had a match-point in their pulsating five-set quarterfinal, which established him as a near-equal. However, since the start of 2024, wherein Sinner has been the best in the world, conjuring an astonishing win-loss record of 85-7 (until Rome 2025), Alcaraz has beaten him four times. 'The thing with Sinner is he strikes the ball so hard and also without making too many mistakes,' former World No. 1 Mats Wilander told 'Tennis365' recently. 'That is too much for a lot of people, but not Alcaraz. When Sinner has a forehand and time to hit it, other players have to guess left or right. Carlos doesn't have that problem as he is super fast.' Thrust, parry, counter All of which suggests that the two have areas to unlock and space to grow. Alcaraz did that most recently in the Rome final by pinning Sinner deep in his backhand corner and forcing the Italian to generate his own pace. The triumphant Spaniard later called it 'tactically, my best match'. Sinner's response will likely help write the next glorious chapter. 'I wake up in the morning trying to understand the ways to beat him [Alcaraz],' Sinner had said in October 2024 after the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia. 'These rivalries, these kinds of players, they always push us to our 100%. Hopefully this rivalry will last as long as possible.'
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Djokovic likely has played his last French Open
Mumbai: Novak Djokovic quickly packed his bags, and then placed it on Court Philippe-Chatrier and applauded the crowd. He blew kisses, tapped his chest, folded his hands, gave the thumbs up. He lifted his bags again and began to walk before stopping again. Bending over, he kissed his hand and tapped the red dirt of Roland Garros. 'This is not usual,' came the call from the commentary box. Was this Djokovic's farewell to the French Open? No one in the stands remained seated as the man who had won three Coupe de Mousquetaires walked off the court. A great generalisation of the crowds at the Parisian Grand Slam is that they cheer for home players and the underdog. As absurd as it may seem, Djokovic, as a 24-time Grand Slam champion the most decorated men's tennis player to play the sport, was the underdog on Saturday, as he played Italian world No.1 Jannik Sinner in the men's singles semi-final. Djokovic lost 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) in a high-quality match that lasted three hours and 16 minutes. Most in the stands cheered for Djokovic, the last remaining member of the Big Three of men's tennis. The French Open this year started on an emotional note with organisers giving a grand farewell and tribute to Rafael Nadal, a 14-time winner of the tournament. Djokovic was there on court two Sundays ago with Roger Federer and Andy Murray, celebrating the legacy of one of his great rivals. With both Nadal and Federer retired, and at 38 having to push beyond his limit in a relentlessly physical sport, the Serbian has been left to play catch-up with the two best players in the world right now, Sinner and Spanish world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz. For a man driven by chasing history, and obsessed with winning one more major title to break Margaret Court's all-time slam record, the 25th Grand Slam is looking more and more unlikely. With that thoughtful smile as he walked off court after the loss, almost as if he had made peace with the fact that this one final record may just be beyond his reach. And that his time in Paris has come to an end. 'This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know. That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end,' Djokovic said at the post-match press conference. 'If this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd. 'Do I wish to play more? Yes, I do. But will I be able to play in 12 months' time here again? I don't know. That's all I can say for the moment.' He may be in the twilight of his career, but Djokovic is still a force to be reckoned with on tour. He can still dismantle challenges from any player. Except for perhaps Sinner and Alcaraz, who seem to have reached those astronomical levels Djokovic once maintained. '(It) was a straight-set loss, but I feel like I did give him a run for his money, so to say,' Djokovic added. 'I tried to make him work till the last shot. I did what I could. This is sport. You have to just shake the hand of the better player and move on.' The Serbian engaged, more often than not, Sinner on the backhand corner to keep the ball away from the Italian's ferocious forehand. But this was a night where Sinner was in colossal form - he committed his first unforced error on the backhand side well into the second set, with 76 minutes on the match clock. Crucially, it was a Djokovic backhand that crashed into the net which ended the match. This will not be the last we see of Djokovic. His focus will now turn towards Wimbledon. He will chase that 25th Slam on grass now, where he has seven wins and is one title away from equalling Federer's record in men's singles. The promise has been left unfulfilled in Paris. Perhaps there might be some luck for him in London.
