World No. 11 Daniil Medvedev recently shared an amusing anecdote involving himself and fellow player Andrey Rublev.
“Andrey Rublev is a big fan of sushi, which I also enjoy,” Medvedev recounted. “We were sitting in Barcelona one relaxed evening – maybe even having a drink – and he suddenly said: `I`m tired of watching you hold your chopsticks.` I really do hold them incorrectly, just sort of crossing them. But generally, I eat fine; not much food actually drops.”
He continued, “We were eating some particularly slippery salmon, and that specific piece was difficult for me to pick up due to my poor technique. Andrey and I spent half an hour on this. He was showing me, explaining. I`d try, looking at his fingers, then mine – mimicking exactly how he did it. But I simply couldn`t get it right. I started getting frustrated, wanting to just throw the chopsticks down.”
“In the end, Rublev watched my struggle and just said: `Forget it. When you do it your own way, it works out for you.`”
Medvedev reflected on this, adding, “I never intentionally try to go against the system. But perhaps something in my genes or upbringing means there are indeed moments where I might get angry at an umpire or do something that could be perceived as against the system or the ATP rules in some way. But this little story illustrates a broader point: in life, it often happens that many things I do, I genuinely try and strive to improve at. And I find I improve by doing it a little bit in my own unique manner. This approach has its limitations, as it prevents me from becoming the absolute best in that specific area – I`m not talking about tennis here.”
“Why won`t I win 24 Grand Slams?” Medvedev mused. “Because I don`t do absolutely everything according to the textbook. But, paradoxically, if I did everything exactly as it `should` be done, I probably wouldn`t have won even one Slam, or become World No. 1.”
