Daniil Medvedev’s 12 pieces of chewed gum helped aid US Open win — and were left out for all to see
The key to Daniil Medvedev’s first match of the U.S. Open was not the 10 aces he blasted in a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory over France’s Hugo Gaston on Sunday.
It wasn’t his 34 winners, either. Nor was it the 38 first-serve points he racked up.
“I don’t know why, I was super dry in my mouth. Water was not helping, so the only solution was chewing gum,” Medvedev said during his on-court interview after the win inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. “And I probably watch too much baseball, because for whatever reason, they all chew chewing gum.”
Coincidentally, less than a mile down the road from Citi Field, Medvedev was seen gnawing on some peppermint-flavored Excel gum between changeovers as he breezed past Gaston in straight sets.
A shot of 12 individual pieces of chewed-up gum next to his seat was shown on the match’s live broadcast.
“I was like, ‘You know what, I’m losing all the matches. I need to try to do like baseball guys. I need to change something,’” he said.
The 30-year-old Medvedev was in high spirits after avenging his first-round exit in last year’s U.S. Open, when he rallied from two sets down before losing to France’s Benjamin Bonzi in a dramatic five-setter.
With Sunday’s win, in which he won four of eight break points, Medvedev is into the second round for the eighth time in his U.S. Open career.
He’ll face either American wild card Sebastian Gorzny or Belgium’s Raphael Collignon.
A U.S. Open winner in 2021, Medvedev has a chance to climb further inside the world’s top 10 depending on how he performs over the next couple of weeks. Without world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, the No. 7 seed will likely have to go through a combination of players like Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to get to the final.
The Russian’s one and only Grand Slam victory is still that 2021 U.S. Open title.
Amid his recent on-court struggles, Medvedev joked at the Winston-Salem Open that he should start a new career playing pickleball with Jack Sock. A former top 10 tennis player, Sock successfully transitioned to professional pickleball after stepping away from the ATP Tour in 2023.
Asked by on-court interviewer and former player Andrea Petkovic where he stands on that proclamation, Medvedev clarified that he already has his hands full.
“Unfortunately, tennis takes too much energy and time,” he said with a smile. “Otherwise, I would do something else. Maybe not exactly pickleball, but I’d exchange sometimes tennis, sometimes something else. Unfortunately, tennis is a full-time job and you need to dedicate a lot of time to it. Until I’m, let’s say, 37 and a half, I will be happy to play tennis. And then let’s see what life brings me.”
