US OPEN

September 11, 2020

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. THIEM/D. Medvedev

6-2, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It seemed you just let the first set go after that incident. In retrospect, what would you do differently and what not in this semifinal?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, talking about first set, he was actually playing good also, Dominic. I lost my concentration, started doing some errors. So, yeah, was a bit far from winning this first set.

What I would do different in this semifinal? Probably not much. I mean, we can talk about some shots, losing concentration in the first set. But Dominic played really good.

Tennis is all about small points. Sometimes you win these points; sometimes you lose them. Today I lost the most important points. That's how he got the win.

But I think it was really high-level tennis and Dominic was playing really good.

Q. People thought for some time that you two would stand back and trade shots forever. You both mixed it up a lot. How much of that was part of the plan? How much of it was adjusting to the situation?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, there was a lot of adjusting to the situation. Because, as I say, sometimes Dominic can have a day when he's going to miss a lot of shots when he's going to go for it. Today was not the case.

I knew I had to be more aggressive. Also the conditions were really, really slow because it was cold today. Just by standing back and hitting the ball on the other side, I would not succeed.

I had to mix it up. I think I did a really good job out there. Just was playing probably a little bit worse today and that's why I lost in three sets actually.

Q. Talk about his groundies off of both sides. Are they among the best? Can you compare them?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, today he played like a real champion. As I say, that's actually the stress of big three. No matter which day you play them, it seems like they play the same level.

Talking about myself or Dominic, we can have these bad days where we can -- maybe you can say I'm going to play to the backhand of Dominic and get some chances. Well, not during this US Open or Australian Open. He's playing really some great tennis, backhand, forehand, slice. Everything is there.

As I said, I tried to mix it up. I feel like I've done a lot of great things tonight, but just didn't get it till the end.

Q. What did he do so well in the tiebreaks that helped him win them?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I mean, again, it all comes to some shots. I think I had a set point, and he served to my backhand. I was actually thinking where he's going to serve. It all comes to these small moments.

I think it's more in general he had a little bit of more, I don't know how to call it, had a little bit more energy tonight maybe. Let's call it a winning energy. I think it was feeling throughout all the match. That's why I was serving two times for the set.

I didn't do anything wrong, but he was playing really good. He fought till the end. I also fought for it till the end.

We can discuss for hours about this, maybe I should have played cross, down the line. But tennis is not only about this, and he was really good tonight.

Q. What's next for you? Are you heading right off to Europe to get ready for the clay? How do you feel about the quick turnaround?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I'm going back tomorrow. Going back to Monaco. Practice for, I don't know, three days. I'm going to take for sure, like, two days off. Then go to Hamburg to try to play one tournament before French, try to prepare it.

Looking forward to it. I was actually, let's call it like this, last clay season my best tournaments were the first ones. Here I'm only going to have two. Hopefully I can have some great results.

Q. That match could have been two sets to one in your favor. Will the fact that you weren't able to close out the second and third sets, will that sit with you for a little while? Or is it over with and now it's a matter of looking ahead?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Not at all, it's not going to sit with me. I'm always disappointed to lose. But it's not like I felt like I got nervous or I lost my concentration. I was there. Let's not talk about first set, but second, third set I was there all the time. Mentally I was 100%. My concentration was there, my game plan was there.

Just he managed to be on top of me. Yeah, maybe I had a set point especially in the third set. Maybe I could have served better and make an ace. But, as I say again, this is tennis.

So looking ahead and was a great match tonight.

Q. I know you've been asked a lot about playing without fans. Last year the crowd was a big part of your performance. Talk about playing without that kind of energy in the stadium.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, of course, I think everybody says it. It's sad to play without the crowd. We love playing for the fans. We love playing with the fans. As we can see last year even sometimes when they are against you, you can interact with them, which is good (smiling).

We really look forward to having fans back. But of course it needs to be in best ways possible. So maybe starting, I don't know, 20%, 30%. I don't know. It's not a question to me, it's more for the authorities, health departments, stuff like this.

Really hoping fans are going to come back soon.

Q. After the incident in the first set, you went to talk to the supervisor. What did you expect him to do in that kind of situation? What were you trying to get out of your chat with the supervisor?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I was just really angry. Of course, there was no reason to talk to him. But what surprises me sometimes in tennis is, okay, the supervisor is always there in case, let's say, for example, a default. He steps up, calls a default. It's not the decision of an umpire.

For example, talking about my code violation today, I mean, what did I do? Did I hurt someone? Did I say something rude? I didn't do anything. I get a code. I'm like, Supervisor, do something. Why are you sitting here?

I still don't know the answer to this question. Of course, there was no reason to get angry on this.

Q. Leaving New York, are you going to look back at this as happy that you made the semifinals of the US Open or disappointed that you were two matches away from potentially winning your first slam?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Of course, it's a little bit of both. But definitely more happy than disappointed. I can tell you honestly, two months ago, two weeks ago -- two weeks ago I was here. Two months ago or months ago, someone would tell me I would make semis of US Open, I would be super happy because I was not feeling great about my game, great about my physical shape. I had, I want to say, huge troubles in practice. I was like, Okay, how I'm going to play?

Finally I showed some great level. Even talking about tonight. Super happy about my level. Disappointed with the loss.

But great experience. Great result. Looking forward to next tournaments.