Argentina’s top player Diego Schwartzman has said he has an ‘okay’ relationship with Daniil Medvedev but admits that the two players are somewhat different following their verbal exchange earlier this year.
At the ATP Cup in January Schwartzman fell in three sets to his Russian rival in what was a heated match between the two. After the first set the two exchanged words and the umpire had to get out of his chair to intervene. Medvedev was then given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct for continuing the verbal exchange despite being warned not to. He was also accused of deliberately celebrating directly towards Schwartzman’s camp which Marat Safin, who was the captain of the Russian team, later apologised for.
“I started to tell him that he was a fool to the face. I insulted him and he looked at me justifying himself with what happened. In football, it is as if they score a goal and celebrate you in the face and in your fans.” Schwartzman told ESPN Tennis last month about the incident.
The rivalry between the two will resume on Friday when they meet in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters. Although both have since insisted that they have resolved their differences to some degree. The two have also trained together on the Tour since then but it is safe to say that they will never be the best of friends.
“I think he did a mistake at that time in the ATP Cup, and maybe he understands that,” Schwartzman told reporters on Thursday.
“We have just a relationship between two guys who are playing the tour. We say hello and we practice for a few times after the ATP Cup in Roland Garros and in a few different places. No more than that.’
“We are different guys from different parts of the world. We are with our teams here. So our relationship, it’s okay. I mean, it’s fine.”
Medvedev himself says he has ‘zero problems’ with the world No.9 without addressing if he thought he was in the wrong or not during their clash at the ATP Cup. To put the match into context, the tie between Argentina and Russia took place during the quarter-final stage with the winners going on to play Novak Djokovic’s Serbia.
“If you watch the match closely, in the second and third set I was sometimes applauding Diego for great shots or something like this. And of course I understand why he was angry with me and why he could be angry with me. I had my position also on this situation,” he said.
“I have zero problems with Diego like I could maybe have with some other players. We never know. So with him I have zero problems.’
“At the same time if he has problems with me, I understand it, I will not fight against it. But again, I think the relationship is going better and better.”
Going into their Paris Match, Medvedev leads their head-to-head 3-0.
