Novak Djokovic and a lot of players experience booing, it's become a part of tennis now: Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev is not fond of the recent proliferation of booing in tennis, as he believes most times the crowd does it without even knowing why they are doing it.

The Russian, known for his on-court antics as much as his success, experienced booing firsthand once again on Monday during his Madrid Open third-round clash against Alexander Shevchenko. Medvedev managed to wrap up the contest in three sets, losing the first 4-6 before mounting a comeback to win 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

The former World No. 1 was subjected to boos at the end of the first set, where he took his frustration out on the court by hitting his racquet.

Touching on the incident during his post-match press conference, Daniil Medvedev lamented how a lot of tennis players, including top players like Novak Djokovic, have had to deal with similar behavior in recent times.

The World No. 3 wondered if fans these days were coming to matches with the intention of wanting to watch something exciting, which eventually leads them down this path.

"I feel like sometimes the crowd right now in tennis, for whatever reason, I don't know, maybe it was like this before also, comes for this excitement. So as soon as something is happening, they don't even know what's happening, they just boo you," Daniil Medvedev said.

"Yeah, I experienced this quite a bit. Novak Djokovic experienced it. I mean, a lot of players. I think it's just part of tennis right now."

Medvedev admitted that the crowd booing him on Monday was not totally unwarranted. However, he pointed to other instances during the match where they were displeased with him for just challenging calls, which he is within his rights to do.

"You know, I hit the racquet a little bit after the first set. I was disappointed with some mistakes. So they started booing. I was, like, 'Yeah, come on, let's do it more.' But then when you play a good point you also can put them on your side," Medvedev said.

"And, yeah, again, sometimes you deserve it, sometimes not. Probably, you know, I hit the racquet a little bit, so maybe I deserve it. One time I took a challenge, they started booing. What, you don't want me to take a challenge?" he added.

Daniil Medvedev also spoke about the crowd booing Holger Rune during his controversial loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the same stage of the Madrid Open the previous day.

He sided with the Dane and was "disappointed" for the youngster, as he believed that Rune did not do anything wrong to deserve the boos from the crowd.

"I actually watched Holger yesterday without the sound, so I thought that something is happening, but I watched it without the sound. My daughter was sleeping behind the door. So I heard that something happened," Daniil Medvedev said.

"I didn't see it. I mean, again, it's all about did you deserve it or not? I don't think Holger did anything yesterday, you know. So, yeah, that's disappointing."

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"Mentally a brutal match" - Daniil Medvedev on his 3R victory over Alexander Shevchenko at the Madrid Open

Mutua Madrid Open - Day Eight

Daniil Medvedev then touched on his "mentally brutal" match against Alexander Shevchenko. He revealed that he was cramping throughout but did not show it as he did not want his opponent to know.

The former US Open champion was also all praise for his compatriot, hailing him for putting up such a tough fight and making it mentally exhausting for him by the end.

"Mentally was a tough match, because yeah, so many tough moments," Daniil Medvedev said.

"Like 20 minutes I was already cramping. Just, I didn't show it. Yeah, so mentally was -- I mean, when you win 7-5 in the third, it's always mentally a brutal match, so I'm happy that I managed to win it," he added.

In the Round of 16, Daniil Medvedev will take on another Russian in the form of Aslan Karatsev, who downed Alex de Minaur in three sets in the third round.