Watch: Daniil Medvedev applauds Alexander Shevchenko's incredible shot during Dubai Tennis Championships 1R clash

Daniil Medvedev recently applauded Alexander Shevchenko after the Kazakhstani skillfully scored a point during their first-round clash at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.

Medvedev defeated Shevchenko 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the tournament. The match was the second time they faced each other on the ATP Tour after their initial meeting at the 2023 Madrid Masters, where Medvedev came out victorious. The Russian is now set to face Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the second round on Wednesday, February 28.

On Tuesday, Tennis TV posted a clip on X (formerly Twitter) from the match that featured a thrilling rally, with Shevchenko skillfully earning the point. The shot garnered applause from the crowd, with Medvedev all smiles as he applauded his opponent.

The Dubai Tennis Championships is Medvedev's second tournament this season. His first was the Australian Open, where he was defeated in the final by Jannik Sinner. However, he sustained a foot injury after the tournament.

In his Dubai Open post-match interview, he spoke about taking time off, but when he came back to Dubai, he started feeling the pain again and wasn't able to practice well.

“I did take a week and a half off by myself and then when I came back I started feeling pain here and there, not practicing 100%,” Daniil Medvedev said.

Medvedev also spoke about the mental side of playing with pain, stating that one has to forget about the pain and focus on tennis alone to avoid losing the match.

“It’s very tricky, because when you come into a match you have to forget about it, because when you think about something other than tennis you are going to lose the match.

"I managed to do it, I didn’t feel any pain and I’m looking forward to tomorrow," Medvedev said.

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Daniil Medvedev will face Lorenzo Sonego in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships

2024 Australian Open - Daniil Medvedev

Following his victory over Alexander Shevchenko, the World No. 4 will now face Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

Medvedev began his season at the 2024 Australian Open, beating Terence Atmane, Emil Ruusuvuori, Felix Auger Aliassime, Nuno Borges, Hubert Hurkacz, and Alexander Zverev. However, he was defeated in the final by Italy's Jannik Sinner.

Medvedev is the defending champion of the Dubai Tennis Championships. He aims to win his second title at the tournament after defeating Andrey Rublev in the final last season to clinch the title.

Lorenzo Sonego, on the other hand, is competing in his fifth tournament of the season. He has second-round exits at the Alediale International and the Australian Open. The Italian also had first-round exits at the ATP Rotterdam and Qatar Open but reached the final of the Qatar Open doubles category in partnership with Lorenzo Musetti.