"I like tennis and still win a lot of money" – Daniil Medvedev dismisses retirement talk after Rotterdam exit
ATP
Things haven’t been going Daniil Medvedev’s way in recent weeks. The Russian player suffered another early exit, this time at the Rotterdam Open, leaving many questioning his form and future.
However, when asked if retirement had crossed his mind, Medvedev made it clear that he is still fully committed to the sport.
A surprising upset
Medvedev entered Rotterdam as the second seed and started well, securing a first-round victory against Stan Wawrinka. In the second round, he faced 23-year-old Italian Mattia Bellucci, who pulled off a stunning upset, winning 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 in a tightly contested battle.
Bellucci showed great mental resilience, keeping his composure after missing a match point in the second-set tiebreak before sealing the win in the third. His aggressive approach on return proved crucial, as he won 58% of Medvedev’s second-serve points and constantly applied pressure.
The victory marked Bellucci’s first win over a top-10 player, a significant milestone in his career. Speaking after the match, Bellucci shared his excitement about the breakthrough moment.
"It was an intense three-hour match, and I loved every moment of it," Bellucci shared.
"I gave my all out there. I'm exhausted, but very happy with how it went."
"I tried to enjoy every minute of it. I tried to have fun on the court and be myself as much as possible. I hit the serve and volley a bit and hit the underarm serve. I wanted to be myself, but I saw him far back. I think I used it to move him a little bit from there. I don't want to be disrespectful.
"I felt that I had to enjoy every moment of this match. This is a big result, so I will enjoy it."
Medvedev reacts to his struggles
Following his defeat, Medvedev acknowledged that he found the conditions difficult in Rotterdam.
"Slow courts, slow balls, but it's not new. I don’t have enough power to dictate the game in these conditions."
Medvedev dismisses retirement talk
Despite recent setbacks, Medvedev firmly rejected any suggestion of retirement, making it clear that he still enjoys the sport and remains financially motivated to continue competing.
"No, I mean, I don’t even know what to say about this. I like tennis and still win a lot of money, so I will continue playing until I can."
"If I drop out of the Top 100, then I don’t know, but this will probably not happen. And I’m pretty sure I can come back strong enough. That’s it."
Medvedev remains one of the best players in the world, and despite his current struggles, he is confident that he will find his rhythm again.
How did Daniil Medvedev miss this against Mattia Bellucci ? 😳
— edgeAI (@edgeAIapp) February 5, 2025
He was up 4-1 (40-30) ..pic.twitter.com/JyptTwij39
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- No, writer, we were not "stunned". If you knew your business you would have been aware of her statement last weekend re: her knee and retirement. The main take-away here is that Simona went out on her own terms. She surely wanted to play again after WTA & ITIA screwed her out of her final productive seasons. Personally, I believed she was going to make this announcement when I saw the President and his family in their box seats. Good for Simone -- now she can move on to other things as she said she would.
mandoist04-02-2025 - It sounds seriously absurd that in Davis Cup, (unlike Grand Slams such as the Aus Open), medical time outs off court with the medical staff are not allowed?? I mean, if this was an Aus Open match, and the same thing happened to Gurin then, he would have been able to go off court for official medical time out and make an informed decision whether to resume the match or retire. How come such conditions do not apply in Davis Cup?? I mean, there with Davis Cup, it is even more like a soccer match or basketball game in that teams are playing. And so as with those, it ought to be the case in tennis that if a player needs serious medical time out, then one of the other team mates ought to substitute and each team needs to have stand-ins or understudies in case substitution is needed which will be rare but as we can see here, this kind of circumstance fits. But even if the teams do not go down the road of subbing other team mates in, in case of a health issue like the one which played out here, at least, as in the Aus Open and other Grand Slams, there ought to be time-outs with the health professionals and at the conclusion of these time-outs, the particular decision that has been reached between them and the player needs to be taken on board by the umpire. PERIOD.
Sueiyin04-02-2025 - "If Novak did this, he would be defaulted for life. WTF." 🤣 WTF sounds like What Tennis Fury?! What Tennis Flurry??! I mean, se-rious-ly, it was actually the unfairness of the silly umpire's decision that is the issue here! Further, how come it was Gurin & his team who got disqualified? If this kind of thing happens in soccer, it would be the other guy getting the yellow or red card! Because after all, it was the Belgian who's foul it was so why then penalize the opponents for something they didn't instigate? Fouls in both basketball and soccer are read as a hinderance that has been caused by the player who INITIALLY instigated the hinderance. In this case, okay, it is tennis, but while the precise rules are different to either soccer or basketball, the same type of recognition as to whoever instigates a hinderance should apply, and in this case, it was the Belgian player.Sueiyin04-02-2025
- Medvedev talking to his form here. "Some actual deep problem." 🤣😂🤣MrAndreeva03-02-2025
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- Ha-ha-ha... Translation: I'll help as long as I don't have to meet in person and endure the ongoing BS"mandoist03-02-2025
- Well said.mandoist03-02-2025
- So tennisuptodate doesn't even make this event a headline on this site? I had to find it hidden here. Not a word about Yastremska trying to ruin Alexandrova's celebration with her postgame actions?? According to WTA regulations, Yastremska has some punishment coming her way for walking-off court, blowing-off postgame rituals with the winner; including no photos, etc.mandoist03-02-2025
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- Typical narcissistic cynicism of Kyrgios! Very rarely has a decent word to say about anything. He's abusive, jeeringly loud and obnoxious. He needs to be officially called out by both the ATP and ITF for using foul language in public spaces such as social media. The guy's a vampiric hoon who sucks the lifeblood out of tennis by trying to bolster popularity of the good-for-nothing bad boy image. I once admired Kyrgios for his previous good-willed willingness to get honest help for his mental health issues but that all went down the drain once he figured he could reel money in through publicity stunts using the negativity of his problems in such a way as to declare them 'no longer problems' but something which he could become more entangled in just to boost an anti-hero image. Shame on him for turning his back on common human decency and good-willed fraternity. Instead he opts to make a 'hero' out of villany. I'm sorry Nick but u are only doing more harm to yourself in the long run by trying to serve up a bad name for the sport you claim to so proudly represent. Get real mate, tennis is not for hoons, neither is hoon-behaviour the hallmark of sporting integrity. It's an utter disgrace!Sueiyin02-02-2025
