New Delhi: While addressing his monthly radio program ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday talked about Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev’s sportsman spirit after losing to Rafael Nadal in the US Open.
Outlining that players’ speech and his game personified the heart-winning spirit of sportsmanship, PM Modi said, “I hope you are aware that I am just as common a person like everyone else. Being an ordinary citizen, whatever affects you has the same effect on me as well. Hence I too heard the speech and watched the tennis match between Nadal and Medvedev. Sheer simplicity and maturity displayed by Medvedev touched everyone.”
Prime Minister Modi emphasized on the sportsman spirit of Medvedev while praising the humility of Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.
“It surely stirred me. He won hearts with humility and simplicity; an epitome of the spirit of sportsmanship in the truest sense that he is, in letter and spirit,” PM Modi said while speaking of Medvedev.
The Prime Minister also urged the countrymen to hear Medvedev’s speech and lauded his demeanour.
“This young player has won the hearts of people across the globe”, he said.
“These are moments that go way beyond winning and losing, where victory and defeat cease to matter. It is the life that is a victory. As a matter of fact, this young player has won the hearts of people across the globe,” PM Modi said.
Earlier this month, after losing a five-set thriller in the US Open final against Rafael Nadal, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev had congratulated the Spaniard on his 19th Grand Slam win and said that playing against the player was very tough.
The two tennis players enthralled fans of the sport with a nearly five-hour-long match, which he lost 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6 on Sunday (local time).
“The way you are playing is a big joke. It is very tough to play against you,” US Open’s official website quoted Medvedev as saying.