Medvedev: Again, they say that tennis is over

Medvedev: Again, they say that tennis is over

The Russian couldn't beat Zverev for the third time in as many weeks.

“We all try to do something different, to prepare differently or play differently,” said Medvedev, who had also beaten Zverev 6-2, 6-2 in Paris on 6 November.

“I felt he was doing something differently. I tried to change up things I’d been doing, and I felt it was working well, but I just couldn’t return his serve and it was enough for him to win the match… Every time you know he is going to do something new and you have to be prepared for it and the same for them. This time he won, but next time I will try to do something better and try to do something better than him and win”, Medvedev concluded.

Medvedev believes that Zverev is getting closer to winning a major championship. “Sascha is a great player who is capable of beating anybody, so he definitely can win a Grand Slam, because it’s just obvious".

“It was great,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “I won the [Nitto ATP] Finals, in the final against someone I had lost five times in a row, so I had to play one of my best matches. I am happy about that and happy to go on holiday with this win.” Many say that with the departure of the big three, interest in tennis will decline.

Tennis has survived generational changes before and will do so again when the “Big Three” of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic retire, world number two Daniil Medvedev said on Sunday.

“When there was (Bjorn) Borg and (John) McEnroe, when they were close to finish their careers, everybody was like, ‘tennis is over, we won’t ever have any great players, it’s finished’,” he said after falling to Zverev in the ATP Finals championship match in Turin.

“We did have some. (Pete) Sampras, (Andre) Agassi, they were at the top. (When) Sampras retired, (it was like again people were thinking) ‘Okay, tennis is over.’

Then we had Novak, Roger and Rafa. If you asked just before they came, everybody would say, ‘Well, tennis will not be interesting anymore', said the Russian, adding:

"The same thing is happening now. No one has won as many Grand Slams as Novak, Rafa and Roger. Then we could say they are the best. I can only speak for myself and I know I will do my best to win more titles, to be in as many finals as possible", Medvedev concluded.

Medvedev will play Davis Cup, so it is not the end of the season for him yet.