Top 5 Best Quotes of 2023, No. 1: Catchphrase king Daniil Medvedev proves reading is fundamental

No. 1: Almost Everything Daniil Medvedev Said This Season.

Whether he was on the court or in front of the mic, Daniil Medvedev made sure the library was always open as he spent the 2023 season reading everything—and everyone—to filth.

Much as the former world No. 1 kept crowds entertained with his tennis, fans were equally excited for breaks in the action, when Medvedev would let fans know exactly what he was thinking.

His year of banger quotes began in Australia, when he parodied a flexing Marton Fucsovics after toppling the Hungarian in straight sets, showing off a little bit of Spongebob leg for Margaret Court Arena.

“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!’”

The banter continued during the Sunshine Swing, where Medvedev regularly and repeatedly claimed that the BNP Paribas Open hard courts were below his standards, infamously declaring himself a hard-court “specialist.”

That moment occurred against rival Alexander Zverev, against whom tensions boiled over at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, where Medvedev first began conquering his clay-court demons—but not before dragging the petulant German in the press.

Hearing Zverev had accused him of unfair play, Medvedev referenced the quote at net against next opponent Holger Rune to foreshadow a lengthy—and at times, introspective—monologue about the spat.

“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 joked.

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

The self-reflection continued at Wimbledon, where he spoke of his desire not to be seen as a “selfish kid” only to prank the All England Club with an MTO request as light faded on his match the following day.

“I always said that I try to just be myself,” he explained after winning that match against Adrian Mannarino. “Because [the crowds] are so different, probably you can find the way to adapt to them and try to make them all love you or hate you. Depends what you want.

“I'm not like this. I want to be myself. Even if with some crowds that's going to cause a bad relationship, well then be it. I don't like to fake and lie.”

Medvedev kept it real at the US Open, where he predicted that the oppressively humid conditions in Queens would cause “one player is gonna die. And then they’ll see.”

“Because we are sweating so much and use a lot of towels, I have no skin left on my nose here, and, like, here it's red,” he said, pointing to different parts of his face, “But it's not because of the sun, so it's not like you're burned but I have no skin left…That tells everything, like we left everything out there.”

Finishing the year with a third US Open final, the 2021 champion even had the honors of being the first to roast a victorious Novak Djokovic upon winning his 24th major title: “What are you still doing here?! Come on!”

And those are just his one-liners: Medvedev is not only the sport’s snarkiest quote, but also one of its most thoughtful, regularly opining on everything from nutrition and equipment to video games, the state of the game and where he fits in it.

If the 2023 season was a movie, Medvedev provided an Oscar-worthy director’s commentary, one that only built hype for a bigger and better sequel.