"Huge respect for Rafa for beating me because I tried my best" admits Medvedev after loss

Daniil Medvedev almost won his 2nd grand slam trophy at the 2022 Australian Open but ultimately he saw Nadal lift the trophy.

The Russian was graceful in the defeat speaking very fondly of Nadal and being quite impressed with what the 35-year old produced on the court. He said:

“[I have] huge respect for Rafa. Huge respect for beating me because I tried my best. [It’s] tough to talk after five hours, 30 minutes and losing, but I want to congratulate Rafa because what he did today, I was amazed. I tried during the match just to play tennis, but after the match I asked him, ‘Are you tired?’, because it was insane.”

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Handling the pressure is something Nadal always did well just like Federer and Djokovic. The greatest are always great under pressure and Medvedev saw that first hand:

“The way he managed to play throughout all these sets, even in the tough moments, for him it was for making history. For sure he tried not to think about it, but it must have been somewhere in his head.”

Medvedev is not self guessing too much after the defeat despite missing out on a great chance to win his 2nd grand slam. He said:

“Tactically nothing changed. I feel like I was playing right, but Rafa stepped up. The only thing was he was stronger than me physically today. There were some shots and points where I was a little bit on the back foot. Rafa takes control of these moments.”