Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev are all set to play for the 12th time against each other in their careers, with the Wimbledon 2024 men’s singles quarterfinals being on the line this time. While Sinner is expected to start as the favorite to qualify for his second Wimbledon semi-final in a row, Medvedev could use that in his favor to play without any pressure on him. Interestingly, the Russian’s latest co-actor in a TV commercial, John McEnroe talked about how the US Open 2021 champion is likely to approach the match.
McEnroe was on commentary for BBC after Medvedev benefitted from a walkover against Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16. The 1981 Wimbledon champion advised the World No.5 to have a strong thought of revenge on his mind, going into the match against the World No.1. The reason being that Sinner has won all his last 5 encounters against him, with the one hurting Medvedev the most being the Australian Open 2024 final.
Although modern day professional players would look at such matches as a usual run-of-a-mill one on a ‘brand new day’, McEnroe perhaps drew from his own experience to explain how niceness does not work sometimes since it does not help fire up a player like Medvedev, who is at a disadvantage also because grass is not his favorite surface.
McEnroe boldly claimed that Medvedev would be thinking that he would have loved to take on Sinner on a hard court at this point of time since he would hold the edge there. So the Russian can give it his best shot and hope that Sinner makes mistakes and blinks first.
It is interesting that McEnroe could say a lot about Medvedev so confidently and that has a lot to do with the advertisement they starred in recently, which has gone viral on social media.
McEnroe and Medvedev Are ‘Advertisement Pals’
McEnroe must’ve found more comfort in advising Medvedev after the two spent time together shooting an advertisement. In a new ad for Pepperstone, Australia’s largest online broker, Medvedev and McEnroe are playing tennis on a grass court.
In the ad, as Medvedev is hitting the ball nicely, McEnroe interrupts to say that he is doing it wrong. McEnroe was wearing a red headband, reminding fans of his iconic look in the 1980s. When Medvedev says that he is one of the best in the world, McEnroe hilariously points out the issue with it.
McEnroe says Medvedev is ‘one of’ the best, and that he can help him be the best. A scene later, Medvedev is also wearing a red headband like McEnroe, which he opposes. The Russian player feels absurd and later leaves the court in frustration. The ad has a hilarious punch to it.
At Wimbledon, Sinner and Medvedev will play each other on Tuesday, not before 8.30 AM ET. McEnroe is set to be in the commentator’s box for this match as well on BBC, so his comments on the Russian would be something to watch out for.