Memes Go Viral as Grigor Dimitrov Shocks US Open Champion Daniil Medvedev at Indian Wells

Daniil Medvedev is one of the most consistent players on the ATP tour, especially on the hard courts, with his only Grand Slam coming at the US Open last month. The Russian is known for his unbelievable on-ground coverage as he loves to move around his opponents with the help of angles and spin. All this couldn't rescue him in California.

Following World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev's defeat to former top-10 player Grigor Dimitrov in the pre-quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters on Wednesday, fans took to Twitter to troll the top seed for his performance in the match.

Аt the same time, a few tennis supporters slammed him for missing out on a potential shot at dethroning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic from the pinnacle of the ATP rankings.

Former women's No. 1 Tracy Austin, though, gave the credit for his loss to his opponent Dimitrov.

The American claimed that Medvedev was flummoxed by the Bulgarian's tactics as he didn't allow him to get into any sort of rhythm.

Playing with gratitude 💙@GrigorDimitrov was trailing 6-4 4-1 against Daniil Medvedev before turning it around and producing the upset of the 2021 Indian Wells tournament.#BNPPO21

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) October 13, 2021

Medvedev 6-4 4-1 Dimitrov

Medvedev 6-4 4-6 3-6 Dimitrov

A spectacular collapse from Medvedev, no doubt about that, and Dimitrov seized on it with some sublime tennis of his own.#BNPPO21 pic.twitter.com/GQfsA3RHwW

— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) October 13, 2021

Crazy

Grigor Dimitrov 🇧🇬 defeats Danill Medvedev 🇷🇺 4-6 6-4 6-3 from 4-6 1-4 down to progress to the Indian Wells QFs pic.twitter.com/X53A4Orc9r

— The Tennis Talker (@TheTennisTalker) October 13, 2021

The magical slice from @GrigorDimitrov to get Medvedev out of rhythm and flummoxed. Started over hitting. Medvedev is used to wearing his opponents down with that backboard mentality. Great disciple Grigor for the win.

— Tracy Austin (@thetracyaustin) October 13, 2021

And Medvedev's little year end #1 hopes are over.

Novak Djokovic should do it one again.

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) October 13, 2021

Medvedev's loss came out of the blue, considering he led Dimitrov 6-4 4-1, and was on the verge of yet another victory, but subsequently lost the plot as his challenger mounted a spectacular comeback to seal a memorable 4-6 6-4 6-3 triumph in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

However, Medvedev wasn't too perturbed about his defeat to Dimitrov as he insisted that it "wasn't the end of the world".

"If I would lose the US Open final, maybe [I] would have been a little bit tough on myself. But I do think I see kind of the reasons why this happened. Grigor played [the] second part of the match better than anybody did against me [at the] US Open that I won," Medvedev said.

"Playing this level, I don't see him losing to anybody, but let's see the result," the Moscow-born player added during his post match press conference, while explaining the reasons behind his poor show.

"I don't see [it as the] end of the world this match. I'm definitely going to just continue working for the next one and just try to be better next time, because, Indian Wells, I really like the place, so I want to try to do better one day," he added.