'What Would Novak Do': Daniil Medvedev Booed At Australian Open After Djokovic 'Joke'

Daniil Medvedev hasn't earned himself any fans Down Under after his comment about Novak Djokovic went down like a lead balloon.

The Russian had just beaten Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (4-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, 6-4 in a quarter final for the ages which lasted for over five hours.

The two-set comeback will undoubtedly go down as one of the toughest and most hard-fought wins of Medvedev's career.

After the tough start, it looked like he was staring down the barrel of an early exit - but Medvedev clawed it back.

During his post-match interview with Jim Courier, Medvedev was asked about what was going through his head when he was down by two sets.

"I was not playing my best and Felix was playing unbelievable, serving unbelievable. He was all over me to be honest and all over the place." he said.

"I do not really know what to do so I was like - actually, I don't know if people will like it - but I told myself what would Novak do?"

A chorus of boos then rang out around the arena.

Picking up on the discontent among the crowd, Medvedev then quickly back-pedalled and tried his best to rectify the situation.

"You know what came to my mind was that because he is one of the greatest champions, or Roger or Rafa to be honest, they have won so many matches like this," he added.

"And I just thought, 'OK I will make him work'. If you want to win it, he needs to, you know, fight to the last point even if it is 5-0 40-0 for him, I am going to try to make him tired for the next match, fight until the last point.

"And it worked. I managed to raise my level during the game. Especially in the tiebreak ... actually it's funny, when they closed the roof I suddenly felt the momentum changing my game, I felt that I could go through the court more and serve better and just started playing better."

Alamy

The Novak remark initially drew a negative reaction from fans, who showed their thoughts by booing, but it was most likely said in tongue and cheek from the big Russian.

That said, he did discuss it again in his post-match press conference.

"I've played more times with Novak, like when I started to be good, Rafa and Roger got a little bit injured from time to time so I had more matches with Novak, more practises when I was younger and yeah, some matches he won, some matches I won," Medvedev said.

"Some matches I watched him in the Grand Slams, being two sets to love down with Tsitsipas and Musetti in Roland Garros.

"I was there between the sets and as I say, zero confidence in myself and the outcome of the match. I was like, what would the best players in the world do?

"During all the matches, as soon as I was done a little bit, I was like: Just be like Novak. Show him that you are better. And it won't work every time, because again, he had a match point."

Topics: Daniil Medvedev, Tennis, Australian Open, Novak Djokovic, Australia