"I felt so stupid...awkward and embarrassing" - Daniil Medvedev recalls 28th birthday celebrations

Daniil Medvedev turned 28 earlier this year, and according to the former World No. 1, he felt "stupid" at his birthday celebrations due to a series of events that left him perplexed. The Russian is currently competing at the year-end Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Medvedev, born on February 11, 1996, in Moscow, started learning tennis at the age of six and eventually made his junior career debut when he was 13. The Russian was widely regarded as gangly due to his tall and thin physique, and unconventional tennis-playing techniques. Despite these seeming drawbacks, Medvedev established himself as an elite senior pro in the late 2010s.

Daniil Medvedev became a Grand Slam champion in 2021 after winning the US Open and briefly ascended to World No. 1 on the ATP Tour rankings the very next year. The Russian has also won 19 other ATP Tour-level titles, including six Masters 1000s. He is a former Nitto ATP Finals champion as well, having won the prestigious year-end event in 2020.

Recently, in an interview with Vogue, Medvedev was asked about his best off-court moment in 2024. The World No. 4 recalled his experience of celebrating his 28th birthday in February with his friends.

"On my birthday, my friends surprised me by gathering together in a restaurant—but they made it happen that I arrived there a little bit by accident, and among this group there were different friends, some of whom didn't know each other," Daniil Medvedev told Vogue.

"And so I walk in the restaurant thinking we're just going to be two or three people—and there’s this big table there with a lot of my friends, and I see them one by one, and I get so confused—I'm thinking, like, "Wow—what a coincidence he's there today."," Medvedev added.

The 2021 US Open champion laid bare the embarrassment that he felt after realizing that all his friends at the restaurant had collectively orchestrated the gathering.

"Then I see another friend at this table, and I didn’t think these two guys knew each other, so I'm like, "Wow—what a coincidence! How do these two guys know each other?" And then when I see the third and fourth friends, I'm finally like, "Oh—okay." I felt so stupid—it was so awkward and so embarrassing. But that was a highlight of the year for me—of course," Medvedev said.

On the court, 2024 has been disappointing so far for Medvedev. While the Russian did reach the Australian Open final and the Wimbledon Championships semifinals, he has been plagued by inconsistency, particularly in the second half of the year.

The former World No. 1's latest low came at the ongoing Nitto ATP Finals as he lost to Taylor Fritz in the pair's Round Robin phase matchup. A temperamental Medvedev lost his cool on multiple occasions throughout the encounter, destroying one racket and tossing another around repeatedly, resulting in loud boos from the Turin crowd. His behavior was also condemned by fans online.

Later, Medvedev revealed that he has not been enjoying either training or playing.

Daniil Medvedev on how he has been feeling out of sorts during practice and matches for "two, three years"

Daniil Medvedev (Source: Getty)

Following his 4-6, 3-6 defeat at the hands of Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev attended a press conference, where he laid bare his lack of "pleasure" being on the tennis court. According to the Russian, he has been dealing with this feeling for quite some time now.

Medvedev also spoke up about how the changing nature of tennis balls is making it difficult for him to hold his own during long rallies, widely regarded as his forte. He had previously talked at the 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters about how such balls favor the likes of heavy hitters such as rivals Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

"I have this every day, day in, day out, since like two, three years. Every practice is a struggle. Every match is a struggle. I was holding for long time. Now I feel zero pleasure of being on the court. So no surprise at all about the match today," Daniil Medvedev said.

"The balls make that everyone can do it (long rallies) now. So not at all surprised (with the loss to Fritz). As I say, I feel like I'm in a big disadvantage, but I need to do something with it. For the moment, I couldn't find the exact way, like I can find the way through some matches like Shanghai, Beijing, even US Open. I can fight my way. I can try to find solutions during the match," Medvedev added.

The Russian's next challenge at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals is to get past Alex de Minaur. It is likely to be a critical match for both players, as de Minaur, like Medvedev, lost his first match, to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.