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ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

October 27, 2019

Daniil Medvedev

Paris, France

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. It's amazing everything that has been happening to you. Do you actually realize everything that you have achieved with the US Open and all the titles that you now hold?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Not really. Of course I enjoy it. I feel good, but I don't really realize. My first goal is still the same; namely, to be better every day with each training, each tournament, to win tournaments. It's been working well so far. It's a source of real pleasure.

But I wanted not to stop, and it's not easy. I have Bercy now ahead of me and I hope to play well.

Q. You haven't played since Shanghai. Are you already listening to your body? Is it a strategy to play fully until the end of the season which is very heavy?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I didn't know I would achieve so many results. I was very tired with six finals in a row. I wanted to play Moscow and Vienna. I heard very good things in Vienna. And of course Shanghai, I felt I couldn't play at a competitive level anymore, but I had to. I had to play 100%.

This is why I need more time to cool off and to make sure that I'm at the level for the last tournaments of the season.

Q. When we win so much, as much as you did, does one have a feeling that one is unbeatable? Or are we afraid that it will stop at one point?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's rather the second option because I said in Shanghai, I was asked, Am I unbeatable? And I said, Well, I lost three matches, so for sure I am not unbeatable.

It's not that I'm afraid but rather I don't want it to stop. I want to work as hard as I can to make sure that this momentum doesn't stop. It has worked well so far, and I hope to continue. But we never know.

I'll focus on the first round, and then we'll see how it goes for the rest of the tournament.

Q. You have three tournaments left. If you were to win only one, which one would you like?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: London, to be honest. It would be a dream.

You see, Masters 8, it's a great competition for everyone. So if you were to ask me one tournament, I would say the ATP finals in London.

Q. If you were looking at the ranking a year ago and you knew where you were, you were 15th in the world, now you're 4, and you have Federer, Djokovic around you, do you feel like living a dream? Has it happened too fast for you? How do you react?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's hard to explain because when I was No. 15, I was good already. Then I wanted to get into the top 10, which is never easy.

And then with the US series when I lost during the third round, I managed to get in the top 10. And you can tell yourself, Okay, I've done a full circle, but I didn't want to stop.

I just want to see how far I can go. It could be No. 1. If it doesn't happen, that means that I wouldn't be strong enough. And I know that here, now, to get to be high up in the race, you have to do a significant effort, but I'm trying to do my best.

Q. Here the public is known to be difficult, not as the French Open.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: You mean more difficult than before? Because I haven't played that much. I played three matches here. I have never played on the central court yet.

Q. Well, you will discover it. You have lived something wonderful in New York with the public.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yes, it's true.

Q. How do you play with the public? Do you protect yourself in a safety bubble or not?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, I try to be myself. And as I said in New York -- I was talking a lot, of course. But I was out and I was still myself, and everything that happened afterwards was the same.

I wanted to apologize and try to erase my mistake, but I still wanted to be true to my personality. Everything I said, I was honest and the truth. And if the public loves me as I am, all the better. If they hate me because of this, then I'm sorry, but I cannot do something that is untrue to my personality to be loved by the crowd.

I hope to be a good model and not to make mistakes there.

Q. (Off microphone.)
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I like to be cheered by the crowd, but I still like to be myself.

Q. In the locker room, have the other players changed in the way they perceive you?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, not really because life on the tour is quite specific. The only thing that has changed is that before I would win a tournament every four months. Every time you win a tournament, a Masters 1000, everybody congratulates you.

Now a lot of people are laughing and saying, Okay, we're not going to congratulate you anymore because, otherwise, we'll have to do that every week, and it's just tiresome.

Just jokes like this, but nothing much has changed.

Q. What about what happens to you in the street? Do people recognize you?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yes, more people recognize me in Russia and Europe and New York. I think in New York I had to wear a hoodie all the time. Otherwise, everybody would see me and recognize me.

That's actually because I have worked so much. I have to live with it. That's part and parcel of my achievements and this is what I'm doing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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