	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL

January 4, 2019

Daniil Medvedev

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

D. MEDVEDEV/M. Raonic

6-7, 6-3, 6-4

Q. Daniil, this one was up-and-down. He obviously won that first set, but did you feel like you had to change anything about the way you were playing after you lost the first?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I mean, I don't really agree it was up and down because finally I didn't lose one serve in the match, and that was the key before the match. I knew that well. The way he's serving, I'm just going to try to be present and if he have my chances, I needed to take it. Finally I took two out of four, which is a good result. And as I said, despite many chances that he had, I managed to hold my serves for the rest of the night. So I'm happy about it and I'm happy about the win.

Q. When you play someone like him who has such a big serve, how do you not put too much pressure on your own service games and just sort of stay in the moment?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: In fact, that's what I did the first time I played Karlovic was on grass, and I was in good shape at this moment and I lost 4 and 1, which is a bit strange on grass against Ivo. At least I could get to one tiebreak.

But that's what happened. It was my first match against somebody like this. I was 20, I think. And after the match I was like, I am so stupid. I tried too much to do something on his serve and I started losing it on my serve. So now it's two times that I beat Milos, and the key is just to think about my serve first, to try to win my serve, and then if I have the chance on his serve, then I will try to get it. Yeah.

Q. I think I saw a stat today that you won the most hardcourt matches on the ATP tour last year.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Really? I didn't know this.

Q. This surface suits your game really well, but after the Sydney final last year and then now making the semis here, what about the Australian conditions and the hardcourts do you feel like lend well?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, first of all, I love Australia as a country. That's probably really, without joking, my favorite country to be in, except the heat. I mean, the heat is okay until I play a match. Of course, it's tough to play tennis in the heat, but I love Australia as a country because I love animals. I love birds, and here it's just totally different from other countries. So it interests me a lot.

And about the courts, of course, well, I think they suit me well. I would say I like probably courts more in USA, the way they suit me. But these ones are also okay. And I usually say that my favorite surface is grass, but finally all the titles I have on hardcourt. Everything except clay.

Q. Who do you like in the next quarterfinal? De Minaur or Tsonga?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: That's a difficult question because I would say that in terms of style of play, I would rather play Alex. At the same time it's going to be centre court, in front of his crowd, and we know he loves it. So it's tough to say, so I try not to think about it. Just let's see the match. I think it's going to be a great match and great match to watch and let's see who wins.

Q. Do you come into these events, I mean obviously the No. 4 seed is next to your name, but do you come into these events now, 250, feeling like you should be here most of the week and have the expectation to get into the weekend?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Of course, the expectations are higher, but as I said before, you know, I won two tournaments starting from qualis. So winning seven matches. And here, okay, I have to win four matches to win the tournament. But I take it match by match, because any match you play, if you don't win it, you don't win the tournament. So I always take it match by match, and this moment I won two. I need to win two more and let's see how it goes.

Q. You've obviously had sort of an up-close point of view of De Minaur and what he's been able to do on tour just as far as his progression. What makes him so tough as an opponent?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: He's amazing fighter. Probably I would say kind of Rafa style. Like if the score is 40-0, even me I can say it about myself, that I will not take the point, but probably inside of me, I'm going to say, okay, let's go to my serve next game. He will not do that. He fights for every point. And it's tough because you can't relax at 40-0. Like, for example, Milos today was 40-0 on his serve when I broke him, so it's never finished. And that's why it's tough to play him.

He's always there. Like even remembering my match against him in Sydney, I was 4-0 up in the third set thinking that it was over, but it's never over against him. That's, I think, the main part about him that makes him a tough player already, and of course, he's playing good.

Q. At this point in the preparation you must have a lot of confidence for the Australian Open.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I mean I like the way I played these two matches against great players, I mean top players, champions of our sport. And that I won these two matches brings a lot of confidence after the preseason where you obviously just practice. And so to see that what I have been working on in the off season works here in Brisbane already is a good sign. After, as I said, I take it match by match, so I'm going to do it in Australian Open also.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297