Daniel Medvedev: From the alleys of Mykonos to the Shaolin philosophy

Another tango will be danced in the semi-finals of the Australian Open by Stefanos Tsitsipas with Daniel Medvedev (January 28, 10:30 a.m., Eurosport 1, LIVE by Sportish). They met at the same turn of the event last year. Probably not a tango. Waltz. This is the dance where the dancers move their heads away as if disgusting each other. This is somewhat the case with Stefanos’ relationship with the Russian – despite being French and almost Kazakh – his opponent. An explosive waltz that became a reference point in her career, but also a recurring question in her press conferences.

The opportunities they give from time to time are remarkable. Among other things, Medvedev has told Stefan to let the shit out in Miami, while Stef called the Russian’s fighting style boring.. “Our chemistry is definitely not the best. We wouldn’t go out to eat with friends“, confessed in one of these interviews the 23-year-old leading Greek tennis player, who is half from Russia, but was not born there like his opponent, who … chose his place of birth.

Danil’s parents, Olga and Sergei, thought it would be a good idea to give birth to their son in France in order to obtain French citizenship and secure a better future for themselves. They had organized everything, even the fur coat that Olga would wear on the trip to hide her stomach and not arouse suspicion about the planned immigration. The ninth month of her pregnancy would be completed in March 1996.

Daniel was in a hurry. He was born on February 11th and dropped his parents’ plan. “It’s been going ever since. I always followed him”‘ said his mother. He was born in Moscow. His two older sisters, Julia and Alena, were born there. Olga and Sergei had not decided how to christen the Benjamin family until they met Swiss lawyer Daniel. They liked his name, which they also gave their son, in the Russian version. They thought it was original until little Daniel went to school and found that five other of his classmates had the same name.

His parents made a huge contribution to his development. Sergei is a business demon (a computer engineer at a company that later became a building materials contractor). “Perestroika did him good”Olga likes to say.

He wanted to give his son all the supplies to achieve something worthwhile in his life. The little one started swimming. A poster in the swimming pool referring to group tennis lessons caught Olga’s interest. At Sergei’s urging, Daniel grabbed his first racquet. Bought at the supermarket. His shoes were used. The pink sportswear of Alena’s sister or Lena.

He had turned 6 years old and went to elementary school. At that time, a pediatrician diagnosed a heart problem and explained to his parents that he could not play sports professionally. For a long time he was trained at amateur level with many breaks in between. Incidentally, this diagnosis coupled with a well-written letter from his father helped Daniel to be discharged from military service and allowed him to continue his education unhindered, although the health problem he faced as a minor was resolved.

‘Sick’ at Bayern and in line for De Bruyne

Olga and Sergei still remember how she screamed and cried when she lost the fight. Like when his teammates’ parents ran terrified to the locker room to pick up their kids when they heard him erupt. He was a very ambitious kid and the harpsichord, like the guitar he was learning, didn’t offer him what victory gave him. He never showed the same zeal for music, but used to compete in national championships with video games. “I was very good at it, as was the guy who is now winning the FIFA All-Russian Championships.” said Dania, but stayed true to tennis. He is a big fan of football and FC Bayern Munich. He’s liked it as a team since supporting CSKA Moscow, but he wasn’t always a Bayern fan. It was because he wanted to identify with a club that wins European games.

“I fell in love with football and Bayern when I was 12. I supported CSKA when I was younger, but he didn’t play a lot in the Champions League and when he did, he lost most of the time. I watch all Bayern games. Also the friendly ”. He was already a well-known tennis player (No. 13 in the world) when he queued in the back streets of Mykonos for a selfie with a football star. In 2019 he was on vacation with his now wife on the island of the wind. He found out that Kevin De Bruyne was there too. “He looks a lot like a friend of mine“, he said. He thought it would be fun to take a selfie with the Dutchman to send to his friend. He wondered if she should tell him who he was. “I realized that he doesn’t know me and that he will feel like me when strangers talk to me about their lives.” He decided not to introduce himself and just ask for the selfie he wanted.

Despite his love for football, he didn’t want to pursue it any further. Only one of his dreams had nothing to do with tennis. He wanted to be a pilot but got over it quickly. His upbringing was strict at the special school for physics and mathematics where he went and his parents had kept his involvement in tennis a secret from him. There the students were all winners of the Mathematics Olympiads, the level was high and to justify his absence for competition commitments from showed a doctor’s note and asked the tournament organizers to play in the morning in order to return home the same day. He couldn’t continue in this school.

At the same time, his mother and father recognized that the children who had progressed in sports came from either wealthy or athletic families. They didn’t belong to either category and at the same time saw that their child had a talent for tennis.

Shaolin philosophy and his family’s sacrifices

They decided to sell their apartment in Moscow. They then sold their next house to go to France with Daniel so he could continue playing tennis in the Antibes academies. They left in 2014 and have been preparing for this move for two years. Since then, Daniel Medvedev’s family has lived permanently in France. There they found that the talented juniors, unlike the Russians, had full support from the French state. In fact, like Moscow-born Elena Rybakina, they had considered the possibility that their son might fight for the flag of Kazakhstan since the Russian Federation could not support them financially.

Papa Medvedev feels sorry. After undergoing heart surgery, he stopped watching all of his son’s games. Especially the critical ones. “When I see Dania my heart starts pounding and my hands freeze“. Olga perseveres, but doesn’t recognize her child, mainly because of the irritable nature she displays on the field. “He’s calm in everyday life, I don’t recognize him in court.”

His demeanor began to improve with his trainer, Jill Servara. The French coach – who has an exclusive collaboration with him – has described him as a genius and he’s not the only one. Dania’s French background includes his psychologist Francesca Dozet, who focuses on Chinese medicine and Shaolin philosophy. “It helps me a lot to stay focused on my goal and not get upset,” the Russian said of the French in his group. “When a Shaolin fights, he never looks around,” argues Dozet, trying to teach Dania this principle. Whether he succeeded in the fight with Stefanos remains to be seen.