US OPEN

September 8, 2020

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/F. Tiafoe

6-4, 6-1, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You talked on court after the match about wanting to get better every single round. Hard to see you doing anything better than you did today. What could you improve on going ahead to win this title?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's in general. I could serve better, for example. My percentage went down really significantly at one moment in the match.

I was talking in general that it's always better to start the tournament maybe a little bit rusty, then to play better and better, than to start the tournament really good and maybe get burned out till the third or fourth round. That's what I was talking about.

Yeah if we talk about today's match, maybe I could serve better. If not, I was playing really good. Happy about my game, yeah.

Q. Last year after you made the runner-up performance, did you pretty much have it in your head that you were on a quest to go on and make the next step this season? Has it been in your mind ever since?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, not at all. As a person, I take it step by step. Every tournament I play, if it's an ATP 250 or a Grand Slam, I take it match by match.

Of course, I want to win any tournament I play. No matter which tournament I play, my goal is to win the whole thing. But I take it really match by match. It's already after the tournament where I'm looking back on the tournament and deciding where I made a good tournament or if I'm disappointed with my result.

It always depends of course on the last match you play. If you win the tournament, it's great. If you lose a match, did you give everything you could, did you play good. If yes, then congrats to the opponent, let's go for the next one. Different mentality.

Q. Not when you were juniors or new on the tour, but at this moment, what do you see as the biggest similarities and differences between your game and Rublev's?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think if we're talking only about the game, there are not many similarities. We are playing different tennis. I play a little bit more counterattack with trying to make my opponent in trouble, maybe seeing what my opponent does, then deciding how I'm going to play.

Andrey is different. He tries to dictate his game with the forehand, go for the shots. He doesn't really care what the opponent does, he just cares about himself. So it's a different strategy.

But I think what is a similarity, that starting from juniors we always tried to get better, we always pushed each other. We were always happy when we win and disappointed when we lose. I'm talking also for each other.

Really happy that we manage to play in the quarterfinal of a slam. We couldn't play any later, so that's the latest stage we could play at. I'm really happy about it.

Q. Things are different now to 12 months ago. If you had to talk about your game and your development, where would you say you are at this stage of the tournament compared to last year?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Really tough to answer this question. Actually I think impossible. Completely different situations. Last year we had a full season where you go clay, grass, prepare for USA, play Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati. Here you came to New York to play two tournaments on the same site. So I can more talk about only this tournament this year.

I'm playing really good. So if I should compare to last year, probably I'm playing the same. But it's tough to say. I wouldn't give my hand to cut to say this. I'm just playing good this year, these few rounds, so I'm happy about it.

Q. You fed off the crowd energy in your run to the finals last summer so well. How much are you missing that right now and playing the role of the 'villain,' so to speak, that you did with such a smile on your face last year?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, what I should say that finally ended up well, like in romantic movies, romantic American movies. Actually it's really sad there is no crowd this year. I think would be funny to see if they would be cheering me on or not. Hopefully yes. Hopefully I will come many more years in New York and have a good relationship with the crowd.

Q. You and Andrey have spoken about this in the past about how you used to lob in the juniors and do whatever it took. Was that you as a kid just finding any way to win? What was the history of all the lobbing?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I didn't have a lot of arms, weapons, to win when we were really young, like 9, 10 years. I didn't have any weapons to win the match sometimes. I was always on practice trying to play aggressive, maybe going to the net and stuff like this.

Then there was a match going, I start to do it, I'm losing 3-0, the match is up to 4, the set. I'm like, No, back to lobs. Yeah, because I always hated to lose. Maybe even the better mentality for a kid would be to try to stick to his game plan or something like this. At the same time it's always good when you want to win also.

I think I had a good mentality finally (laughter).

Q. As someone who always sort of went after the ball, Andrey, how would you say that he's grown in the three years since he made the quarters here the first time?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I'm sure he learned a lot of new things. As you say, as far as we know him, he was always going for crazy shots, going for winners. But he was not consistent before, which was just showing the ranking and the results. This is easy in tennis.

He really progressed starting last year. I think he changed something in his mindset, in his game. Now he's one of the best players in the world, only going up the rankings, top 10 soon I guess. Top 10 soon, I guess. Really happy for him. Hopefully we can have a good match to play.

Q. What did you learn from the memorable match against Nadal a year ago here at the Open?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I answered this question many times. I always don't remember what I answered. Always try to think again.

I think the main thing I learned, that I'm able to play in a Grand Slam final against one of the best tennis players in the history of the sport, being in his top shape. I was very close to win. I gave him a great fight. I was able to hold physically. That's all the small things I learned there.

Q. Does it mean anything that you're the only player on the men's draw that hasn't dropped a set yet, of the players left? Do you take any notice of that or not?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, honestly doesn't mean anything. What matters is the next match. For example, talking about Coric, who saved six match points, maybe it's going to be him the winner of the US Open. Doesn't matter they lost a lot of sets coming to win the title.

Doesn't mean anything. It's great to save some energy. This counts in a Grand Slam. This is great. That's what I'm happy about. It means, yeah, that I'm playing good tennis. Hopefully I can have some more matches like this.

Q. Looking ahead to facing Andrey, was it tricky at all the times you played him? Are you able to separate the friendship from the competition?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think actually with him we never had problems on the court, like tricky moments, maybe get angry at each other. I think we respect each other in and out of the court. It's always tricky to play a friend. It's more unconsciously because consciously you prepare for your match, try to win it. Unconsciously you know he's your friend since eight, know him already 16 years. There are some things going on for sure in your mentality, but you always try to get rid of it.