Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev secured his maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday evening, but his unusual celebration raised plenty of eyebrows around the world.After defeating world No.1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the US Open final at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium, Medvedev flopped onto the court and lay unmoved with his tongue poking out.During his acceptance speech, Medvedev explained what his celebration meant to the confused fans both inside the stadium and watching at home: “Only legends will understand what I did after the match is L2 plus left.”Speaking to reporters after the triumph, Medvedev explained the “dead fish” celebration originated from popular video game FIFA, where players press L2 and left on their controller after scoring a goal to perform the celebration.“I like to play FIFA. I like to play PlayStation,” Medvedev 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. You’re going to score a goal, you’re up 5-0, you do this one.
“It‘s not because I want to be (in) the newspaper, I don’t care. But I wanted to make it special for people to love, for my friends to love who I play FIFA with.
“I got hurt a little bit. It’s not easy to (fall) on hard courts.
“I‘m happy I made it legendary for myself.”
Medvedev’s victory makes him Russia’s first Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova and the first Russian man to win a major since Marat Safin in 2005.
Fingers crossed there’s more on the way for the Russian, and here’s hoping they’re taking bets on what FIFA celebration it’ll be next time, my money’s on the Muevelo.