‘I can't take him seriously anymore’: Medvedev slams Tsitsipas at Kremlin Cup for vodka downing video

Tennis star Daniil Medvedev has slammed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a video in which he claimed victorious Laver Cup team members forced him to down vodka, insisting “I can't take him seriously anymore”, at the Kremlin Cup 2019.

After winning the Laver Cup in Geneva, Switzerland, alongside Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Tsitsipas a YouTube video in which he accused his teammates of peer-pressuring him into downing 'vodka and coke' last month in a message to his mother.

Speaking at a press conference at the Kremlin Cup 2019 in his Moscow hometown, world no. 4 Medvedev ridiculed Tsitsipas claiming he and his friends couldn’t take him seriously after watching the video, shot after the Shanghai Masters.

Reuters / ERIC GAILLARD

“Every player can have a jibe at another or something or other,”  the Russian said. “I will say only one thing: after that interview in Shanghai, where he was explaining how he celebrated winning the Laver Cup, it’s hard to take him seriously.

"I discussed it with my friends in tennis, not only Russians, and it just made them laugh.”

In the video, Tsitsipas addresses his mother, former Soviet and Greek tennis player Yulia Sergeyevna Apostoli, to tell her the drink was not quite to his taste.

"It was disgusting, it was so bad, I didn't like it at all,” the world no. 7 says. “Mama, they forced me to do it. I will show you the video—they were screaming my name." 

Medvedev scorned the 21-year-old, saying: “He said that they forced him to drink, that it was disgusting. Ok there’s nothing wrong with that. But the main thing he said was: “Mama, it was disgusting! I can show you the video”. But it’s funny. I can no longer take him seriously.”

Medvedev beat Greek wonderkid Tsitsipas in a close Shanghai Masters semi-final 7-6, 7-5, before going on to thrash German Alexander Zevrev in the final in straight sets. That trio, each an ATP top 10-ranked player, is considered as spearheading tennis’ next golden generation. 

The win for Medvedev was earned him a third ATP title from a sixth-straight final this season, one of those coming in the US Open, and saw him overtake Swiss great Federer in the ATP race for London.

The 23-year-old currently sits in third place on 5,875 points while 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer is one place behind on 5,690 points, something Medvedev admits he “dreamed of as a kid” and has already set his sights on a leapfrogging the world no. 3 in the ATP rankings.

At the same press conference on Wednesday, Medvedev also announced he would not take part in the excused himself for pulling out of the tournament in the ATP 250 tournament at Krylatskoye Ice Palace in the Russian capital, citing fatigue.