Medvedev taken aback as he meets young tennis player with more titles

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Daniil Medvedev was taken aback by a young tennis player in an adorable moment during the coin toss for his match on Friday. The world No 7 was introduced to the mascot as chair umpire Richard Haigh revealed he had already won a whole host of titles, with Medvedev remarking that it was already more than he picked up in his entire career as a junior.

Medvedev faced good friend Karen Khachanov in the quarter-final of the Adelaide International on Friday and was able to roll through his compatriot 6-3 6-3 in an impressive performance. But the former US Open champion was the one left impressed in a sweet moment before the match as he was introduced to the young mascot conducting the coin toss.

“He’s won ten titles already,” the umpire informed the third seed as Medvedev shook hands with the young boy. And the former world No 1 was left amazed by his achievements, as the mascot had already outperformed what he achieved in his own junior career.

“Ten titles? More than me in juniors,” the 26-year-old admitted, as Richard Haigh added: “So doing pretty well already, there we go.” The mascot then got to pose for photos with both men before the world No 7 was able to get through to the semi-final in an hour and 17 minutes.

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Medvedev now awaits the winner of a clash between Novak Djokovic and Denis Shapovalov as the Russian seeks his 16th career title as he continues to exceed his junior success on the pro tour. As a junior, the 26-year-old reached a career-high of No 13 in the rankings but failed to get past the third round of any Grand Slam tournament.

While he won a total of eight junior titles to his coin toss mascot in Adelaide’s ten, the former No 1 did manage to win four in a row on one occasion in 2013. He decided to end his junior career a year later following a first-round defeat at junior Wimbledon in 2014.

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While he wasn’t as successful as the likes of compatriot Andrey Rublev and former ATP No 2 Alexander Zverev in the juniors, Medvedev has gone on to become arguably the most successful player so far of his generation on the pro tour, as the only man from his era to win a Grand Slam title and reach No 1 in the world.

And it could be a good sign for the young mascot, who could grow up to be the next big thing in tennis and join Medvedev on the tour one day. He wouldn’t be the first, as Denis Shapovalov was famously the mascot for one of Rafael Nadal’s opponents at the Canadian Masters when he was just nine years old, and he went on to beat the Spaniard at the same tournament nine years later for what was his breakthrough as an 18-year-old wildcard, eventually going on to become a top 10 player.

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