Not even 24 hours into Daniil Medvedev’s world No. 1 ranking, the Russian tennis player spoke passionately about wanting to “promote peace” in the world right now.
Following his quarter-final win in the Mexican Open, Medvedev took the time to address the ongoing Russia-Ukraine military conflict in his post-game message.
“By being a tennis player I want to promote peace all over the world,” Medvedev said, per Reuters. “We play in so many different countries. I’ve been in so many different countries as a junior and as a pro. It’s just not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace.”
Medvedev admitted that he was distracted by the news all day on Thursday, and he honestly found it difficult to focus on his match that night. With the conflict continuing on, it continues to be a distraction for Medvedev as he prepares for his semi-final match against Rafael Nadal on Friday night.
“In this moment, you understand that tennis sometimes is not that important,” Medvedev said. “It was definitely not easy to play and I am happy that I managed to win the match. That was a little bit of a roller-coaster day.”
Medvedev was asked about his fellow Russian player, world No. 7 Andrey Rublev, and his recent doubles win with Ukrainian Denys Molchanov last week. Medvedev saw this victory as symbolic in ways.
“This was amazing because I think people need to stay together and that’s the most important,” Medvedev said.
