Daria Kasatkina rails against “villain” portrayal of Daniil Medvedev on Netflix’s ‘Break Point’

The infamous reality show “villain edit” has officially made it to tennis with the second season of Netflix’s Break Point, and former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev is its unwitting victim.

Fellow player Daria Kasatkina was one of many on social media who called out Medvedev’s unflattering portrayal on the fourth episode, “Unfinished Business,” after it debuted on the streamer Wednesday.

“In this story, I wish kids will take a ‘villain’ as an example of a human being,” writes Kasatkina over a retweet of a Break Point montage showing Medvedev’s on-court emotions. “Danya is the best.”

Kasatkina’s ringing endorsement of the 2021 US Open champion is unlikely to be the takeaway for viewers tuning into the tennis world for the first time. Medvedev is framed as one “who plays with the head of the opponent,” according to rival Alexander Zverev, about whom the majority of “Unfinished Business” revolves.

But Zverev is the only player to publicly make this assertion of Medvedev, having first done so after enduring a second of what would be five total losses to Medvedev in 2023.

"He is one of the most unfair players in the world,” he told reporters after failing to convert two match points on Medvedev at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters.

Medvedev met the claim with inimitable aplomb, dismantling the argument piece by piece in his own press conference the following day.

“Sascha is living in his own world. I already had like five players in the locker room coming to me and saying, ‘Come on, Daniil, why are you so unfair?’” Medvedev said, having jokingly told opponent Holger Rune he was unfair to have beaten him earlier that afternoon.

“...When he says someone is not fair play, you're like, ‘Okay, great. Look at yourself in the mirror.’”

Medvedev, who has indeed suffered blowback for his antics—particularly his more aggressive confrontations with umpires—has blossomed into a fan favorite after returning to form in 2023, becoming a must-watch on the court and in press for his knack for dropping new catchphrases.

Zverev, by contrast, hasn’t quite endeared fans in the same way—at least if the replies to the ATP’s Twitter/X account are to be believed.

Medvedev briefly liked and unliked Kasatkina’s tweet, but is yet to directly comment on his Netflix debut.