Just like dad: Medvedev’s daughter smashes racket in hilarious tennis moment

Daniil Medvedev’s fiery reputation appears to be rubbing off on his daughter, who gleefully reminded her coach of the Russian’s famous temper during tennis practice.

Medvedev was speaking after reaching the fourth round of the US Open when asked whether it was more mentally demanding to play a five-set Grand Slam match or spend the day at home with his daughters.

The question prompted the 2021 champion to share a funny story about one of his daughter’s training trips. “Oh my God, they’re both rough. You can’t tell,” Medvedev said during an interview in court.

Medvedev spoke about his daughter after defeating Rinderknech at the US Open

“You said earlier that one of your daughters has the same fiery temper as you. Which is tougher in terms of mental stamina, a 5-set match at a Grand Slam or a day at home with the girls?”

Daniil: “Oh pic.twitter.com/fXPUl47CtH— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 4, 2026

“I have to say, a day at home with the family. Although sometimes, you know, with my daughter, it can be mentally demanding, and some days are amazing. It’s always a nice experience at the end of the day.”

Medvedev said the comparison wasn’t entirely fair because a tough day with his family still ended on a positive note, as opposed to a painful five-set defeat.

“I have to be honest, when you lose five hundred at the end of the day, it’s a very bad experience. Your body hurts, your mind hurts, you’ve lost the game, you’ve got to go home, you’ve got to, I don’t know, book your tickets, think about how you’re going to train for the next few days, what you’re going to do. So it’s definitely better to be at home with your family.”

Then he remembered taking his daughter to clay practice. She was having fun and although she hadn’t really watched her father’s matches yet, she suddenly decided to throw a racket across the court.

“I have a funny story, because I don’t like to talk much about my family. But once I took her to practice. It was on clay and she comes and is happy to play tennis,” said Medvedev.

“He doesn’t really watch my matches yet, and you know, even if I break the racket sometimes, it’s not like throwing the racket 65 times every match.

The funniest part, according to Medvedev, was that his daughter wasn’t angry or frustrated when she fired the rocket. She was just having fun.

“And then she’s happy, so she didn’t do it out of frustration, but she throws the racket all over the court. And the coach, the lady, looks at me and says, ‘I don’t know where she got that.’

The comment clearly struck a chord with Medvedev, whose own racket-throwing incidents have become part of his on-court reputation.

The Russian joked that his daughter could provide a lot of fun if she eventually took tennis seriously.

“So yeah, she is. So probably, you know, if she plays tennis, you’re going to have a lot of fun.”

The story came as Medvedev enjoyed one of his strongest Grand Slam runs in recent months. He beat 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to book his place in the fourth round without dropping a set.

The seventh seed has made it past the third round just once in his previous seven Grand Slam appearances and was knocked out in the first round at the US Open last year.

He looked like a different player this time in New York. A straight sets win over Rinderknech moved him up to No. 5 in the live rankings, while an increasingly open draw gives the former champion a chance for another deep run.

Medvedev has already played in two US Open finals, winning the title in 2021 and finishing as runner-up in 2019 and 2023. With just three former Grand Slam champions remaining in the men’s draw, he will be hoping his latest resurgence can see him make another title challenge.

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Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

05 Sep 2026 10:39 IST