US Open tennis champion Daniil Medvedev nods to ‘FIFA’ with ‘dead fish’ celebration

The Russian, who beat Novak Djokovic for the men's singles title, quipped: “Only legends will understand, what I did after the match is L2 + Left”

After winning his first tennis Grand Slam title at the US Open 2021, Daniil Medvedev treated fans in attendance to FIFA’s popular “dead fish” celebration.

After achieving a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open men’s singles final, the 25-year-old Russian player dropped to the ground, playing dead with his tongue stuck out and his eyes wide open.

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“Only legends will understand, what I did after the match is L2 + Left,” the newly crowned Grand Slam champion said in his on-court interview.

Medvedev further explained his celebration during a press conference following his win. “I like to play FIFA. I like to play PlayStation,” he said. “It’s called the ‘dead fish’ celebration. If you know your opponent when you play FIFA, many times you’re going to do this.”

He said he ran the idea of the celebration past his team in the locker room and received support: “They were like, ‘That’s legendary!’ Everybody who I saw who plays FIFA thinks that’s legendary.”

Medvedev – who typically doesn’t engage in flashy celebrations – clarified that he wanted to do something for his fans “to make them laugh”. He then quipped that he got hurt while executing the move: “It’s not easy to make it on the hard court, so I got hurt a little bit but I’m glad I got to make it legendary for myself”.

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While celebrations and taunts play a large role in the FIFA franchise, it was announced in August that opponents’ celebrations can be switched off across all modes on the upcoming FIFA 22 game. FIFA 22 is due to release on October 1 for PCPS4PS5Xbox OneXbox Series X/S, and Switch.

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