Daniil Medvedev has been invited to join the Russian Curling Federation after saying any sport was better than tennis during a loss in Winston-Salem.
The 30-year-old Russian tennis player made the comments on court during his second-round match at the ATP 250 tournament in North Carolina, where he was defeated 5:7, 3:6 by American player Martin Damm.
Frustrated by his performance during the match, Medvedev suggested that he might start a career in pickleball alongside former American tennis player Jack Sock while it was not too late. He added that any other sport on the planet was currently better than tennis, specifically mentioning curling as an alternative.
The press service of the Russian Curling Federation responded by publishing a photograph on its official Telegram channel depicting Medvedev launching a curling stone. The federation added a caption stating that curling was indeed better and telling Medvedev that they were waiting for him to join the sport.
Slump in recent form
Medvedev is currently ranked eighth in the official ATP standings. The defeat against Damm represented his fourth loss in his past five matches, marking a difficult stretch for the player who holds 23 ATP career titles.
Medvedev previously reached the top of the men's rankings as world number one and secured his first Grand Slam singles championship at the 2021 US Open. The Winston-Salem Open is an annual hard-court event played in North Carolina shortly before the start of the US Open in New York.
Pickleball and curling background
Pickleball is a fast-growing paddle sport that has recently attracted several former tennis professionals, including Sock, who retired from the ATP tour to play pickleball professionally. Curling is a traditional winter Olympic sport played on ice, where athletes slide heavy polished granite stones toward a target circle.
Neither Medvedev nor his coaching team have publicly responded to the curling federation's invitation.
