When all was said and done at the Vienna Open, the two fierce rivals on court were left to their own devices and celebrated, surprisingly, by dousing one another in champagne.
Rivalry between Medvedev and Sinner
Next to the top 2 tennis players in the world, Djokovic and Alcaraz, world No. 3 Medvedev and world No. 4 Sinner are well on their way to emerge as another popular rivalry on court.
The match between Medvedev and Sinner, which took place in the final of the Vienna Open, marked the eighth time the two players had faced each other on court in their careers. And just last month, Medvedev won all six of their encounters 6-0.
But this October, Sinner quickly turned the tables and broke his losing streak for the first time against his Russian foe. He won in the China Open final 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) and even joked during his speech, “Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match.” And he continued this streak onto the Vienna Open final and prevailed once again over Medvedev with 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3.
Odds against Sinner
For the second time this month, spectators have witnessed Medvedev’s and Sinner’s names paired together in the final.
According to lastwordonsports.com, the odds were slightly skewed in favor of Medvedev, who had won six of their prior matches and was better suited to play on Vienna’s medium-speed courts. But that doesn’t rule Sinner out, especially since he received a mental lift from defeating him in their last match in Beijing.
Sinner: It took a lot of mental and physical strength
Despite the odds against him and his foe’s undeniable strength, Sinner powered through the match, winning the first 7-6(7) and third 6-3 sets.
With this victory, Sinner now ties with Medvedev in terms of wins in their finals showdown, with Medvedev winning the Rotterdam and Miami finals and Sinner clinching the Beijing and Vienna finals.
In a post-match interview, Sinner stated that defeating Medvedev required a lot of mental and physical effort.
Via The Tennis Letter on X: ““It took a lot of mental & physical strength. To finish the match, it was a really mental thing. For sure in the top 3 or top 5 matches I’ve played in my life. Playing finals is always special. Especially against Daniil where I lost so many times. The last time I won gave me confidence. Today was completely different than last time. I made more serve and volleys there. Today I had to adapt. I’m happy with how I handled the situation. A very, very good match today.” 🇮🇹❤️”
Jannik Sinner after beating Daniil Medvedev to win his 10th ATP title:
“It took a lot of mental & physical strength. To finish the match, it was a really mental thing. For sure in the top 3 or top 5 matches I’ve played in my life. Playing finals is always special. Especially… pic.twitter.com/iRjUXfXnp3
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 29, 2023
The two rivals celebrate on court
After the match, the two opened their champagnes on court. Sinner was the first to open his, and he sprayed it on the officials behind them.
Medvedev had some difficulty opening his champagne, but once he did, he directed the champagne’s outpouring onto Sinner, drenching him on stage.
Sinner, in retaliation, also sprayed some of his champagne towards Medvedev.