Daniil Medvedev gets the Wimbledon crowd behind him after missing last year because he is Russian

By CHRIS LEHOURITES
AP Sports Writer

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Daniil Medvedev had to skip the Wimbledon tournament last year but not because he wanted to. The 2021 U.S. Open champion was banned from the All England Club just like every other Russian and Belarusian tennis player because of the war in Ukraine. Medvedev was playing in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time. He was enjoying the support of the fans on Centre Court but still lost to Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Medvedev says the crowd was “going for the underdog … supporting me like crazy. I felt like they wanted the match to prolong.”