Russian tennis player, Daniil Medvedev, expressed his gratitude towards umpire Carlos Bernardes for his championship win at the Italian Open. During the match, the chair official overruled one of Holger Rune’s shots, calling it out on championship point and granting a 7-5, 7-5 victory to Medvedev. The world No. 3, who had previously stated his dislike for clay courts, was surprised by his victory and never expected to win a Masters 1000 title on clay.
Medvedev experienced a remarkable turnaround at the Rome tournament, having never won a match on clay before. The 27-year-old won his first clay court title and 20th title of his career by winning his last four games of the match from a 3-5 deficit in the second set. The championship point was a bizarre one as the umpire called one of Rune’s shots long on the baseline mid-rally. Both men accepted the decision and Medvedev fell to his knees to celebrate.
Medvedev expressed his appreciation towards the umpire for making the right call during his victory speech. He joked about not being able to see Carlos when he said, “I have to say thanks to Carlos, I don’t see him. Because I actually thought the last ball was in and it was out by far. And he saw it first, so thank you Carlos, I don’t see him but thanks a lot. Otherwise, I would continue the point.”
Medvedev expressed his disbelief about winning a Masters 1000 title on clay given his record on the surface. He thanked his team and congratulated Rune while telling his wife and coach, “Who would’ve thought I would be standing here? I honestly didn’t, I don’t know about you guys but I honestly didn’t think so. But it happened, I’m really happy.” In his pre-ceremony interview, Medvedev had confessed that he “hated” playing on clay as he didn’t feel good on it and nothing seemed to work for him.