Daniil Medvedev shows off muscles, aiming to rival Marton Fucsovics at Australian Open

WATCH: Medvedev muscled his way into the Adelaide semifinals to start the 2023 season, losing to Novak Djokovic.

Elite tennis players come in all shapes and sizes, and Daniil Medvedev showed off some of his Grand Slam-winning frame after knocking out John Millman in straight sets on Wednesday.

No sooner did he secure the 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory did the former world No. 1 lift his shorts towards his team to the confused delight of the Margaret Court Arena crowd.

“Sometimes I cramp, and sometimes I’m not strong enough to finish the match,” he explained on-court, “But this one, I felt amazing, physically, so I was trying to show off that strength.”

Asked about the gesture by fellow former No. 1 Jim Courier, Medvedev admitted he was inspired by another muscle god, Marton Fucsovics.

“A lot of people probably saw photos of Marton after his match,” said the No. 7 seed as Courier added Fucsovic looked more like Thor than a mere mortal athlete in a celebration photo that went viral on Twitter.

“I have just a little less muscles than him, so it was a little bit to laugh at myself. I saw the photo and I thought, ‘I do have a little bit of muscle, but not too much!’”

Medvedev elaborated more on his musculature in his post-match press conference, insisting he feels as fit as ever heading into the first major tournament of 2023.

“I'm capable of doing strong weights,” he said after the match. “I'm not going to tell it here, but, like, I'm capable of doing weights where if you see me, you won't be able to believe I'm doing this. In the way my muscles develop. I know it because I can run faster, stronger for longer time and not get as injured as I was in the beginning of my career. That was the goal with my physical coach.

“We worked really hard in the gym. The only thing that it won't show on my body, but it was always like this! I remember when I was 16 years old, I was still practicing in Russia at one moment, so it's the age where you can kind of develop physically, and usually you can develop muscle. My physical coach at the time said, Okay, we're going to do…four sessions in the gym, real musculation with protein shakes after, whatever. Literally, you can't see anything!

“I become stronger. I know I become stronger. I can lift stronger weights, but looking in the mirror, nothing changes, so that's just how I am. I like it, so yeah.”

The 2021 US Open champion will have another chance to flex his muscles as he aims to reach the fourth round in Melbourne with a win over another of the tour’s lankier fellows, No. 29 seed Sebastian Korda.