Amanda Anisimova didn’t hide that she wasn’t happy about exiting the Eisenhower Cup and she and Daniil Medvedev had some hilarious answers after their loss.
On Tuesday, the Indian Wells organizers announced their would be some changes to the Eisenhower Cup lineup after Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas were forced to withdraw due to the Spaniard’s injury.
A couple of hours later, Anisimova and Medvedev were announced as the replacement pair.
In a TieBreak Tens event that featured eight teams, they drew Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz.
And their debut as a duo wasn’t an impressive one after Rybakina and Fritz registered a very routine 10-4 win.
Anisimova and Medvedev lamented their early Eisenhower Cup exit
“I’m kinda bummed that I lost early but it’s nice to watch,” the 18th-ranked WTA star said.
CoCo Vandeweghe, who was conducting on-court interviews, sensed the opportunity to ask a tricky question: “So you’re saying Daniil held you back in this…?”
But instead of blaming the Russian, the recent Doha champion put the blame on herself.
“He definitely didn’t hold me back. I missed some pretty easy balls. I was trying to find my rhythm but it just didn’t happen. Hopefully next time,” she said.
The former American tennis star then funnily tried to encourage Anisimova to place blame on Medvedev because he wasn’t there to hear her: “I mean… He’s not here to defend himself. It’s ok, you can throw him under the bus.”
However, the 23-year-old refused to do that: “No… I mean, I would, if it was his fault, but it wasn’t.”
Meanwhile, Medvedev also had one funny reaction, admitting he didn’t him and Anisimova to be the pair who picked up the worst loss.
“Yeah, I never win doubles. We got the worst score so far, but maybe somebody will do worse than us,” he said.
Tennis World USA