Russian Daniil Medvedev reflects on ‘rollercoaster day’ ahead of Nadal rematch

Daniil Medvedev ended a “rollercoaster day” by setting up an Australian Open final rematch with Rafael Nadal at the Mexican Open in Acapulco.

Medvedev began Thursday by watching the news from his home country of Russia as the invasion of Ukraine began and then learned he will be world number one next week after Novak Djokovic was beaten by Jiri Vesely in Dubai.

Medvedev managed to keep his focus on the court to beat Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-2 6-3 to earn another crack at Nadal, who he lost an agonising five-set battle to in the final in Melbourne last month.

Regarding the news from Ukraine, Medvedev echoed his countryman Andrey Rublev in voicing his support for peace.

The 26-year-old said at a press conference: “Watching the news from home, waking up here in Mexico, was not easy.

“By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world. We play in so many different countries. I’ve been in so many countries as a junior and as a pro. It’s just not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace.

“In these moments, you understand that tennis sometimes is not that important. It was not easy to play and I’m happy that I managed to win the match, but it was a bit of a rollercoaster day for me.”

Medvedev began the week knowing that winning the title would be enough to overtake Djokovic at the top of the rankings, but the Serbian could not take it all the way, ending his return to the match court by suffering a shock loss to a qualifier ranked outside the top 100.

Medvedev was only aware what the result meant for him when he began to receive congratulatory messages.

“It’s not easy to play a match when you get this news during the day,” he said. “The first goal for me was to still win today because I’m here to try