Daniil Medvedev explains wild celebration after Indian Wells announcers left puzzled

Daniil Medvedev has shed light on his exuberant celebration after defeating Arthur Fils in the Indian Wells quarter-final.

The match was a rollercoaster ride, with the Russian initially leading by a break in the decider, then trailing by a break before clinching victory in a nail-biting tiebreak. Medvedev is joined in the final four by Jack Draper, who beat the last remaining American men's player, Ben Shelton. 

Following his win, Medvedev jumped into the air four times while heading to shake hands with Fils. The world No. 6 is renowned for his playful victory celebrations.

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After winning at the U.S. Open, he imitated the EA FC 'dead fish' celebration and occasionally breaks out into unusual dances. His emotional latest display left Sky Sports commentators puzzled.

Medvedev faced a challenging match against Fils on Thursday. The two-time Indian Wells finalist was pulled into a deciding set, where he surged into a 2-1 lead before falling behind by a break.

The fifth seed managed to get back on serve and pushed the match into a tiebreak, where he finally secured a 6-4 2-7 7-6(7) win on his third match point as Fils sent a volley soaring beyond the baseline.

Overjoyed with his victory, Medvedev leapt into the air four times as he bounded towards the net. While the match was thrilling, his celebration quickly became the main topic of discussion.

"What a reaction!" exclaimed former world No. 4 Tim Henman on Sky Sports. "Love to see it and, also, Medvedev is a Grand Slam winner, he's won Masters 1000s but I think, again, that's a reflection of how desperate he is to win these tight matches."

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After his match, Daniil Medvedev joined the Sky Sports team, prompting presenter Gigi Salmon to inquire about his exuberant celebration.

"We have to start with the celebrations because we were trying to think of the last time we saw you celebrate like that, and we couldn't think of one," she said to the fifth seed. Medvedev recalled a memorable moment.

"I remember one against actually Andrey Rublev in U.S. Open," he explained, citing personal reasons related to his first tournament post-Covid and overcoming physical issues.

"Anyway, yeah, I lost three matches this year which were super close, where I could've won, maybe should've won and the more you lose them, the more you lose this confidence in tight moments. So no matter how, no matter why, but I was happy."

Medvedev has faced challenges this season, including early exits at the Australian Open and Rotterdam Open, but showed signs of improvement in Marseille and the Middle East. Despite a tough loss in Dubai, where he squandered four match points against Tallon Griekspoor, Medvedev is now advancing to the semi-final in Indian Wells and is pleased with his current level of play.

"Finally playing good, feeling good. So actually, for him to be a break up in the third, he was playing amazing. So I was like, 'You know what, I'm really doing my best'," he explained.

"I was kind of happy with my shots, I was happy with what I was doing. So I was like, 'I will try to continue, I will try to battle and win it, and if it doesn't work out, I will say congrats and go to the next tournament'. And I'm happy that I managed to do it.

"Great competitor and top player," the Russian said of Holger Rune. "Like I think his ceiling level is very high, maybe even I would say top two, top three in the world. And if he's in the semis, it means he's playing his high level. So I'm looking forward to a great match, I'm feeling good too."