DIRIYAH: Tennis champion Daniil Medvedev flies into Saudi Arabia next month to defend his Diriyah Tennis Cup title of 2019, which led to his most successful season ever.
The defending champion and 11 of the world’s best tennis players will compete Dec. 8-10 for the second tournament of the Diriyah Tennis Cup presented by Aramco.
Having recently become a new father, Medvedev won the inaugural Diriyah Cup in 2019 in impressive fashion, winning every match in straight sets including the final where he defeated Fabio Fognini 6-2.
“It was a great tournament, had great players and I played very good there. I then went on to have the best season of my life at that point,” he said about his first trip to the Kingdom.
“It bought me a lot of confidence for the season ahead and that’s what I’m going to try to do this season,” he added
Since his 2019 win, Medvedev secured his first major victory at the 2021 US Open where he stunned the tennis world with a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic in the final. The current world No. 7 also enjoyed a stint as world No. 1 earlier this year.
Most recently, he has enjoyed a personal high after becoming a father for the first time following the birth of his daughter just last month.
“I’m a really happy person in life right now. It’s only good emotions,” he said.
“The experience is amazing. Many people told me that I can only understand this when I have a baby and now I can completely understand. It’s a lot of fun. I’m so happy about it and so grateful to my wife.”
Medvedev is part of a world-class field of 12 preparing for a new season’s first major in Australia with competitive tennis heading to Diriyah for three days across singles and doubles. The likes of Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Cameron Norrie have also been announced in the field.
The 2022 edition will be the biggest line-up to ever play in Saudi Arabia, and the defending champ is encouraging Saudi fans to come and experience the energy courtside in Diriyah.
“Like every other sport, on TV it is beautiful, you can see the energy, you can see everything,” added Medvedev, “but you can feel it sitting courtside, especially with the best players in the world like at the Diriyah Tennis Cup, you can feel the amazing energy.”
Tickets are now available for fans to experience the energy firsthand. For more information and to purchase your ticket, please visit www.diriyahtenniscup.com.