"I don't want to be too cocky" - Daniil Medvedev gets candid about his 'amateur' gaming career while going strong at Indian Wells

Daniil Medvedev recently opened up about his 'amateur' gaming career. The Russian discussed it after his third-round opponent, rising star Alex Michelsen, retired trailing 2-0 at the 2025 Indian Wells Masters, having seemingly suffered from food poisoning.

For those unversed, Medvedev is a huge gamer, often showcasing his love for some of the games he is a fan of. His infamous 'dead fish' celebration, which he did following his 2021 US Open triumph, was a reference to a celebration in the popular video game FIFA. He is also a huge fan of the game Rainbow Six Siege, a game he was announced an ambassador of, a couple of years back.

While discussing his gaming career with the Tennis Channel, the Russian exuded confidence in his skills in Rainbow Six Siege and expressed his desire to compete in an amateur tournament.

"Yeah, it is definitely amateur, I have aspirations but I know that not good enough," he said.

"Even for an amateur level, really good, I still play the same game Rainbow Six and honestly, I don't want to be too cocky but for an amateur, I'm really good, like I'm getting good ranks, I'm getting good KD (Kill Death Ratio), but I love this game. I played a little bit here, I'm enjoying it, and as I said, I'm pretty good. I'm waiting till the moment I have some time, maybe to go play an amateur tournament for Twitch," he added.

When asked whether he streams his gameplay, the former World No. 1 responded:

"I don't, but I would love to so that people can see that I'm actually quite good."

He also touched upon the few times fellow gamers were excited when they found out they were playing with the Russian tennis star.

"It did happen to me, like three-four times, where I'll play a guy, lose or win, and they'll text me 'Oh my god! I'm a great fan or something like this', that's pretty funny when it happens," he further said.

However, Daniil Medvedev will have to focus on tennis for the time being as he faces a tough opponent next.

Daniil Medvedev will face Tommy Paul in the fourth round of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open

Daniil Medvedev - Source: Getty

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev will face 10th seed Tommy Paul in the fourth round of the 2025 Indian Wells Masters, in what will be the fifth meeting between the two men. While Medvedev leads their head-to-head 3-1, it was Paul who won their most recent meeting at the 2024 Rome Masters.

Paul has been playing some solid tennis in California, defeating Tristan Boyer in his opening match and following it up with another strong straight-set win over Cameron Norrie.

The winner of their match will play either Marcos Giron or Arthur Fils in the quarterfinal. It is worth noting that the Indian Wells Masters is the only hard-court Masters yet to be won by Daniil Medvedev. Though he made it to the final in 2023 and 2024, he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz on both occasions.