Panto villain Daniil curbs anger for Rafa test
Daniil Medvedev is finally learning to control his demons as he bids to down the beast at the US Open.
The Russian has won through to his first Grand Slam Final as he attempts to halt Rafa Nadal’s charge towards history.
The Spaniard is bidding to claim his 19th Major today, putting him on the shoulder of Roger Federer with 20.
Nadal, 33, reached his 27th Slam final on Friday when he downed 23-year- old Italian Matteo Berrettini as Medvedev beat Grigor Dimitrov.
The Russian is revelling in his anti- hero status at Flushing Meadows since tel ling the crowd last week he has been fuelled by their anger and disdain after they turned on him.
He has been fined £15,000 over the last fortnight already for a series of on- court antics that include snatching a towel off a ball boy, chucking his racquet towards the umpire’s chair and giving a boisterous crowd the middle finger.
The 23-year- old revealed he has been seeing a therapist to curb an anger that stretches back to childhood as he paid tribute to the three-time US Open winner who will stand across the net.
He said: “It’s tough to f ind words for Rafa. He’s one of the greatest champions in the history of our sport.
“He’s just a machine, a beast on the court. I’m not proud of what I did to earn the fines during this tournament but I’m working to never do it again.
“I’m seeing a mental coach who is helping me a lot and so is my wife.
“I’ve lost a lot of matches in my career as a result of getting crazy, even when I was a kid. “When I was 14 I would scream at people in the crowd who would clap me for serving a double fault, for example. “In normal life I’m actually calm. To make me angry you’d need to do something crazy for a week , l i ke knock on my hotel room door at 6am every day.” Nadal may be going for his 19 slam but he’s seeking solace from the 10 commandments.
He said: “I would love to be the one with most Slam successes but you cannot spend all day thinking about what your neighbour has that’s better than you.
“You must be happy with yourself. If I’m the one who achieves most, fantastic. If not, at least I’ve given my best throughout my career.”
The rise of Medvedev and Berrettini in New York suggests the dominance of Nadal & Co. may be coming to an end.
Nadal added: “This era is going to end sooner rather than later. I am 33, Novak and Andy are 32, Roger is 38.
“The clock does not stop, that’s part of the cycle of life.”