Daniil Medvedev weighed in on his heel turn on Netflix’s Break Point ahead of the 2024 Australian Open, claiming not to have watched the episode that left fans and fellow players confused by his negative portrayal on the tennis docuseries’ recently-released second season.
“I was in a way waiting for this question,” Medvedev said, smiling through his pre-tournament press conference. “I saw a little bit here and there…but I haven’t watched it and probably will not because I will probably get frustrated!”
Daria Kasatkina took to Twitter/X on Thursday to vent her own frustration about Medvedev’s appearance on “Unfinished Business,” which gave the former world No. 1 an undeniable “villain” edit, one that was very loosely based on the true story of his rivalry with fellow player Alexander Zverev.
“I heard a little bit [about it], but I don’t have much to say,” continued the 2021 US Open champion. “That’s how Netflix is and that’s why people love it, because it exaggerates things. It’s usually hot and cold, no neutral.
“People around me, people in the locker room, they know how I am. How I am on court, it can be tricky, but how I am off court, I feel like I have a good relationship with mostly all of the tour. But I don’t have much to add because the series is not real life.”
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Still, the ever-thoughtful Medvedev conceded there were some changes he aimed to make in 2024 as he prepared to face a Grand Slam season stacked with favorites from 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic to the onslaught of youngsters like Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and Jannik Sinner.
“During vacation this year, I had a lot of thoughts and I felt like I need to change something. It came spontaneously to me that I want to take more care of the important things to me, and care much less about not important things. This can mean sitting on the phone, playing Playstation. I still do those things, but I’m trying to do both less and at times of the day when I have time for it. I’m thinking much more about my tennis, which person I want to be and feel, physically.
“It’s going to be the same on the court. Without changing myself, or being dishonest, I want to change and block the noise from outside so I can focus more on myself. I think that’s very important in life because the more you focus on external things, and what other people think of you, or even what you think of other people, the less you focus on yourself. That’s when you can get tired or frustrated about things.”
The 27-year-old, who will kick off his Melbourne campaign against French qualifier Terence Atmane on Sunday, has already undergone a fairly significant evolution from the brash challenger who infamously taunted the 2019 US Open crowd—using his inimitable humor to continue making his point while slowly endearing himself to the tennis world.
How might this next arc affect his chances of adding to his major tally?
