We have hot gossip to bring you but – promise, now – you must keep it under your hat.
Daniil Medvedev is having an affair. Well, maybe not a full-blown affair but certainly a serious flirtation.
This is a proper crush.
Last year, as he made his way to the semi-finals, he plighted his troth to No.1 Court. Never before able to get to grips with grass, the former US Open champion finally found his feet on the green stuff and started winning in style.
He could not lose on No.1 Court (over the course of his Wimbledon career, he has played and won there nine times). He told the world that he wanted to play all his matches there. He was clearly in love.
And then he was moved to Centre Court and was sploshed by Carlos Alcaraz. It was his first outing on the famous old court and it had not ended well. He was in no great rush to go back there.
This year, he has continued his meaningful relationship with his beloved court – he began his campaign with a straight sets win there – and said again that he wished he could always play on No.1 Court. Yes, this was true love.
Since then he has been on No.2 Court (and dropped a set) and twice on Centre Court. He may have shed three sets over those two matches but he had won; he was getting to like the place. Daniil’s head had been turned.
The test of this new relationship will come in the semi-finals on Friday: another meeting with Alcaraz, the defending champion. That is the same defending champion who has not looked at his devastating best in every game of every match so far but the defending champion who is finding a way to win.
Alcaraz, of course, won over the crowd last summer when he beat Novak Djokovic in that five-set thriller of a final. But Meddy (as he is known to some of us) has been laying the ground work with the Centre Courters. A bit of playful self-deprecation after his five-set win over Jannik Sinner did no harm when trying to impress.
“It’s my first time winning two matches on Centre Court in Wimbledon so…[pause for a hearty round of applause from his new crush] usually I would either win one or zero so this is a record already.”
As for how he dealt with the ailing world No.1 (Sinner had what appeared to be a fit of the vapours in the third set), our Meddy was at his charming best.
“It’s actually very difficult because I felt at one moment he doesn’t move that well,” he said. “So it’s always tricky because you want to play more points to make him suffer a little bit more – in a good way [big smile, sheepish shrug, proper appreciation from his new admirers].
He had them in the palm of his hand. Mmmm. Maybe this new fling had legs.
Now, before we go any further, it best to point out that Medvedev is a happily married man – he married Daria in 2018 – and the proud father of 21-month-old Alisa. But back to the storyline.
The most endearing thing about Meddy is his honesty.
What you see is what you get with him. If he gets something wrong, he owns up to it and apologises. If he is happy, he makes it plain. If he is struggling, we all know about it.
He is not afraid to speak his mind, either in English to the umpire or in French to his coach, Gilles Cervara. Sometimes he speaks too much of his mind to the long-suffering Gilles and, in response, Gilles has been known to walk off court. He knows his man too well: when Medvedev is in that sort of mood, there is no reasoning with him. Best let him get on with it and let the storm blow itself out.
At 6ft 6ins (1.98m), there is a lot of Meddy to get behind the ball. His defence is remarkable, his backhand is almost unreadable, his serve – when he is fully fit – is deadly and his forehand, once clumped, stays clumped.
But it is his brain that is his biggest weapon: Meddy is a thinker; a solver of on-court puzzles. And, yes, he knows how to make his opponent suffer.
Whether all of that will be enough to beat Alcaraz only time will tell. But at least he will feel at home on Centre Court. He has fallen for the old girl’s charms and, seemingly, she has fallen for his. The trouble is that in tennis, love means nothing.
