Don’t worry Italian tennis fans, it’s not about you.
Daniil Medvedev put his fingers in his ears after beating Alex de Minaur 6-2, 6-4 in Turin – but it wasn’t because of the home crowd.
The world no.4 had opened his ATP Finals group stage campaign with a straight-set defeat to Taylor Fritz, but he was straight back on it against De Minaur in a classy victory.
Dropping his racket after the win, he put his fingers in his ears, and then wrote on a camera lens ‘Block the noise :)’.
The move could have been perceived as a dig at the home crowd, but Medvedev said it was more about the social media reaction to his previous loss.
“I think a lot of football players do it. If I understand it right it’s more about social media,” he explained.
“After my performance with Taylor and some of my comments, I tried to use it less. I went into this match blocking the noise, even from myself. No tantrums. Just block the noise.
“I really didn’t care what was happening on the court. I just tried to play. It was a good feeling. Usually I celebrate when I win the tournaments, but today I didn’t care.”
Asked if the reaction had been getting to him, Medvedev added: “No I don’t think so. It’s just good to do it sometimes for yourself. To remind yourself you have to do it sometimes.
“The more popular you become the more fans you get, the more haters you get. The more attention you get.
“Sometimes even the good noise can make you off balance. You win everything and people say you’re a God. You lose two matches and people say ‘Your career is finished.’ Sometimes it’s good to just block it.”
The celebration was reminiscent of Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes who puts both hands over his ears upon scoring.
Numerous other players also put their fingers in their ears, perhaps most famously former United man Memphis Depay and Manchester City’s Jack Grealish.
There is undoubtedly noise for Medvedev to shut out too.
He does have a certain amount of pressure on his shoulders now that Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have retired, opening up a path for him to add to his solo Grand Slam.
That title came in 2021 at the US Open when he defeated Novak Djokovic, and he responded with another football-themed celebration.
Dropping to the floor he did what’s commonly known as the ‘dead fish’ celebration from the FIFA/EA FC video game series.
Explaining his hilarious collapse post-match, he commented: “Only legends will understand. What I did after the match was L2 + left.”
