	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

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2020

Daniil Medvedev

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Do you feel very different sitting here now to 12 months ago, if you take your mind back?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, of course, in terms of I would say confidence and expectations also. I think I improved my game. So, of course, I'm different.

But doesn't always come with the rankings or anything. Everybody changes I would say every year, every year. Of course, I'm a different person, different play.

As I say, the main thing is confidence in my game, what I know how to do on the court. That changed a lot in the last 12 months, yeah.

Q. When we saw you at the ATP Finals, you said you lost a bit of momentum you built up over the summer. Do you think with a new year, all the matches you got at the ATP Cup, you regained that momentum, are back to where you were?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, for sure. Last year was only my third season, if I'm not mistaken, on the ATP Tour, like a full season with all the ATP tournaments. Was a great one.

Still in the end, missing some tournaments, trying to recover for the last two tournaments of the season. I felt that I was kind of burned out. I mean, I still fought in good matches, had 5-1 against Rafa, so I could win the matches even if I lost all of three.

But I felt that I needed some rest, some, I would say, restart. Again, I had great five matches in ATP Cup, won four of them. Feeling great about my game and myself.

Q. What would be a good Australian Open in your eyes?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's always tough to answer. Good Australian Open is to win it. But if you ask me what I'm going to be happy about, it always depends of course who you play, who you lose to.

But I would say I will be happy with quarters. As I always say, for me the first goal is to win it step by step. If I'm in quarters, I'm not going to be there and say, Okay, I've done my goal, it's enough for this tournament.

Any tournament I play, I want to win it. But quarters will be satisfying, I would say.

Q. Roger, Rafa, and Novak have dominated here. What gives you the confidence that you can match it and hopefully beat them?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think playing against them from time to time, especially the further you go in the big tournaments, the more chances you have to play them. The more times you play them, the more you know where you are comparing to them.

For example, match in ATP Cup, Novak was kind of all over me. I managed to get back, almost win the match. I mean, he still won it. They won the whole ATP Cup. But I felt I was really close.

Matches like this gives you confidence to see that you're able to do it, but it's really tough.

Q. Thoughts on your first match against Frances Tiafoe?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it's a nice headline, I would say, two young guys. I don't know his ranking right now. He must be not far from being seeded, in my opinion. So it's a great matchup. As you say, he was in quarters here last year, again super motivated. But I think it's going to be a great match.

Of course, I want to do my best to win it. Hopefully I can show some good tennis. Like this, I'm going to have my chances.

Q. The air quality has been a big talking point in this first week leading up to the tournament. How much of an issue has that been for you in practice? Was it discussed last night at the players council?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I don't know if I can actually say what was discussed. I will try to keep away from it (smiling).

Of course, it's a big disaster what happened in Australia with the bushfires, all the animals, all the people without the houses.

There are rules now that are in charge. I think there is, like, PM 2.5, I don't know too much about it. There are rules of when we going to play, when we not going to play.

I think the conditions for the players will be good.

Q. John McEnroe was tipping you as one of the players most likely to win here. What do you think of that assessment?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Every time somebody says something like this, especially John, who was an amazing tennis player, a legend, it makes you kind of happy. It means that what you've achieved last year get noticed.

Yeah, when tennis experts or legends like John say it, it's an honor for me. But it's not as easy to do it as to say.

Me, as I say, I'm going to take it match by match. Hopefully be 100% physically because that's the most important thing. Show some good tennis. Like this, I can go further in the tournament.

Q. Are you going to try to meet Naomi Osaka here?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: We definitely going to meet. We see all of the tennis players, we see each other a lot. Yeah, that's it.

Q. A lot of players have little routines, ticks, idiosyncrasies about their game. I can't think of any that you have. Is that deliberate?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, of course I have my routines, like everybody. We played so many matches in our career, we know what we have to do kind of. No matter which time you play, either it's 11 a.m. or a night session at 10, you know how you feel better. Somebody sleeps all the day. Somebody doesn't want to sleep before a night match because otherwise he gets tired.

I have my routine, my different stuff. I want to say I don't have superstitions, though I do try to follow some things. The thing is, you know, everybody usually talks about lucky showers or anything. If I'm not going to use the same shower which I didn't win, I'm not going to be in my mind like, Okay, that's it, I lost the tournament. I cannot play tennis any more.

If the shower is open, I'm going to go to the same one probably.

Q. On the court you don't do things like Nadal with all his little things that he does?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, I don't do same things. As I say, I have some routine which I try to follow. But if at some moment I don't follow it, I don't care. That's how it is.

For example, if I serve an ace, the ball boy gets the ball fast, I'm like, Okay, let's take the same one. If I see the ball is far, I'm not going to wait for it. I'm going to take a new one.

Q. The US Open, how close you came in the fifth set, did it take you time to get over that loss or something you were at peace with quickly?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, that's the good thing about tennis and bad at the same time. I would say US Open final was close, and I managed to turn the match around. Of course, I was disappointed to lose. But there were many good things.

I would talk more about the loss in the Nitto ATP Finals. The moment you lose the match, you think it's going to stay with me for 10 years, I'm going to remember it when I finish my career. Then in two weeks, you have a new tournament -- not new tournaments, but pre-season. You have new goals for 2020. You think about ATP Cup and Australian Open. You get over it.

The bad thing about it is when you win a Masters 1000 or something, you have a match next Monday. Nobody already cares that you won it.

Yeah, that's how tennis is. I find it good.

Q. Have you noticed much has changed about your life walking around since that US Open? Are you noticed more? Do people talk to you more?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, for sure. I think it's normal. It's part of the job, of the success of any sportsman in any sport. But especially, of course, in New York like the next day, I had to wear a hoodie, sunglasses, still people recognize me. I would look at myself in the mirror, How can you recognize me? I cannot recognize me (smiling).

Yeah, I always say that me, I just try to be the same with my close friends, my family. I don't change. I still play PlayStation, watch some series, cinemas, go out to dinner. That's how you stay normal, I would say.

Q. Last year when you did lose momentum, did it ever cross your mind that you might never get it back? Maybe I peaked?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it did, yeah. Some moments you can say to yourself maybe it was, I don't know, two good months of your career, two best months, then you never going to get your tennis back.

The most important is to go back out to practice, just to try to do your best, to try to hit the balls good. As I see, it's going to come back.

If you do everything right. Of course, it's really important to be healthy physically because if you get injured, it's a different story as we know. But if you don't get injured, if you are there, if you practice good, it's going to be sometimes maybe up and down. I mean, of course it's important to be consistent. At some moments it's going to get back.

Q. Have you watched that match back? If so, how did you feel?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: With who?

Q. With Nadal at the US Open.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: At the US Open? I saw some highlights. Sometimes they still show it on TV on some channels.

To be honest, I don't feel anything, I would say. It's just as I said, the match has passed. It's a story. I should still remember some good things, like the way I fought being two sets down and a break down. Still almost managed to win the match. This I have to remember, no matter who I play. On Grand Slams, of course...

If not, I think it was a great tennis quality match. That's all I can say when I see it on TV.

Q. You won't be surprised to see Andrey Rublev making a good start to the season. What do you expect from him here and this year?
DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's still even a bit surprising how he was able after Doha straightaway and everything with the jet lag, to get into a final of Adelaide, where many tennis players would withdraw from Adelaide saying, It's a little bit too much.

But, of course, regarding the end of the season he has had, the work he's doing on practices, I always saw it from him when he was young, it's super great to see him doing this results.

For Russian tennis it's great also. Hopefully all of us three can do big here. Let's say we meet each other in the further rounds.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297