Medvedev seals Russia’s win over Germany in Davis Cup semis
Daniil Medvedev had just put Russia into the Davis Cup final by sealing a win over Germany when he turned to the stands at Madrid Arena and started pointing repeatedly at the hard court beneath his feet.
He was here to stay in Madrid for one more day, to lead Russia against Croatia for the most illustrious team trophy in men’s tennis.
The jeers poured down from the German fans and neutral Spaniards, but the world’s second-ranked player didn’t mind. In fact, he egged them on and defiantly stamped his foot before he pumped his fist to the Russian contingent soaking up their victory.
Medvedev said it was just his team’s way of celebrating in an imitation of other team sports like soccer where the ‘stay calm’ gesture has become popular. And if the crowd took it wrong, so be it.
“We have a joke on the team when we practice or play cards, I have seen football players like Cristiano [Ronaldo] do it, we say ‘calm, calm, calm,’ ” Medvedev said. “So I decided to celebrate like this and everyone started whistling… I am just really happy we managed to still be here on Sunday.”
Medvedev brushed aside Jan-Lennard Struff aside 6-4, 6-4 to seal the Russian victory on Saturday after Andrey Rublev won the opening singles over
Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-0.
Germany won the doubles when Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz beat Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to make the final score 2-1.
Croatia awaits Russia after eliminating Novak Djokovic’s Serbia on Friday. Russia and Croatia will be aiming for a third Davis Cup title.
“Croatia is a very strong team, it has always been at the Davis Cup,” Medvedev said. “I am not expecting anything easy, so we will have to play our best to have our chances to win.”
Medvedev reaches the final, where he should face Croatia No. 1 Marin Cilic, after not dropping a single set at the tournament.
With four players ranked in the top 30, Russia was favored against a German team playing without star
Alexander Zverev.
Elsewhere: Darlene Hard, an aggressive serveand-volley player who won three major singles titles and 18 major doubles titles in a Hall of Fame tennis career, has died. She was 85. She died Thursday at Northridge Hospital in the Los Angeles area after a brief illness, according to
Mona Cravens, director of student publications at the University of Southern California, where Hard worked for 45 years. Hard appeared in seven major championship singles finals, winning titles at the 1960 French Championships
Aand the 1960 and ’61 U.S. Championships — the tournaments that preceded the French and U.S.
Opens. She was a Wimbledon finalist in 1957 (losing to Althea Gibson) and ’59, and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian championships in 1962.
ETC.
Soccer: Robert Lewandowski scored twice against his former team for Bayern Munich to extend its Bundesliga lead with a contentious 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund in “der Klassiker.” ... Georginio Wijnaldum snatched a late goal for Paris SaintGermain to draw at Lens 1-1 after goalkeeper Keylor Navas made a big blunder during their enthralling French league game.
NBA: Nikola Jokic scored 32 points and had 11 rebounds in just 27 minutes, leading the Denver Nuggets over the host New York Knicks 113-99. Denver never trailed in winning for only the third time in 10 games.
Winter sports: If there was any thought a knee injury might hold back
AAAAleksander Aamodt Kilde, that’s been erased. His speed has quickly returned. The Norwegian standout captured a World Cup downhill race with an aggressive run at Beaver Creek, Colorado, for his second win in as many days. ... Sofia Goggia won a World Cup downhill by a wide margin for the second consecutive day at Lake Louise, Alberta, extending her streak in the discipline to six appearances in a row as she shapes up as a big favorite to defend her Olympic gold medal in Beijing in two months. ... Capping an unforgettable week, Kailie Humphries won a women’s monobob race at Altenberg, Germany, doing so less than 48 hours after she completed a 12,000mile round trip from Germany to the United States and finished the process of gaining citizenship. It was the 44th international victory of her career on various circuits and at various levels, plus her
12th as a member of the U.S. bobsled team — and her first as an American citizen.