Daniil Medvedev’s US Open ritual revealed as fans spot chewed gum after victory
Daniil Medvedev is taking on the US Open, and after breezing against France’s Hugo Gaston on Sunday, revealed what helped him stay on track and win his round.
The 30-year-old had been ‘losing all the matches’ when he decided to switch things up and ‘change something’.
After which, he was able to win four of eight break points on August 30.
Now. Medvedev is into the second round for the eighth time in his US Open career, where he’ll face off against the likes of US’s Sebastian Gorzny or Belgium’s Raphael Collignon.
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But prior to winning his chance to climb further up the ranking of the top 10 tennis players in the world, he was feeling the strain.
During his on-court interview after the win inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, he revealed he was struggling to keep his mouth hydrated and as his performance wasn’t up to his standards, he revealed his attempt to fix that. Clearly, it worked.
Former tennis player Andrea Petkovic conducted the interview, and asked Medvedev whether the gum had been one of the keys to his successful outcome.
“Was one of the keys today chewing gum? You were chewing gum in between changeovers…” Petkovic asked.
“I don’t know why, I was super dry in my mouth. Water was not helping, so the only solution was chewing gum,” Medvedev said. “And I probably watch too much baseball, because for whatever reason, they all chew chewing gum.”
So, he deployed 12 pieces of peppermint-flavored Excel gum between changeovers and stuck them on his side of the bench – something that was later seen on the match’s live broadcast.
“I was like, ‘You know what, I’m losing all the matches. I need to try to do like baseball guys. I need to change something,’” he said of his decision.
With the result being a happy one, he was then quizzed about something he’d said a few days earlier.
The Russian had joked that he was considering moving away from tennis because of how demanding it was to play the rounds.
This led to Petkovic asking whether his performance against Gaston had changed his mind about potentially making the switch to pickleball.
“A few days ago you said you were contemplating changing from tennis to pickleball. Where do you stand on that after today’s great performance?” she asked.
Medvedev responded: “Unfortunately tennis takes too much energy and time. Otherwise I would do something else.”
He added: “Maybe not exactly pickleball but I’d exchange tennis… sometimes tennis, sometimes something else. Unfortunately tennis is a full-time job.”
Next, he went on to reveal when he is likely to stop playing, with Tennis Temple quoting the star as saying: “Until I’m, let’s say, 37 and a half, I will be happy to play tennis. And then let’s see what life brings me.”
Britt Jones