ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 8, 2020

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Zverev

5-7, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations. Considering in the last few weeks your form hasn't been where you would want it to be, how important is this title for you? Did you draw on what happened last year in the Shanghai final when you beat Zverev in the final there?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I'm really happy with the final, with the win here, especially my level of game was really top level this week. I think it's not easy for guys to play against me when I play like this.

Today was a really tight match. And I need to say after the first set I didn't know actually what to do, because I had zero breakpoints. I didn't feel good returning his serve. He serves amazing. I lost my serve. Got a little bit tight. I was feeling like the match could slip of my hands.

I managed to stay really strong, be there all the time. I got four breakpoints at 1-All in second, and putting pressure at him all the time, raising my level step by step, and finally he broke, which is definitely good from me.

Yes, of course it's tough to compare with the Shanghai final where I was on top of him all of the match. Here it was a really tight match where both could be the winners. So I'm really happy to win it.

Q. Congrats. You were talking about how good your form has been this week, and I'm just sort of curious, what does it feel like when you're in a zone like that, especially towards the end of the match today? Is there a certain feeling going through your head, like that you know that you're feeling it? What's that like?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's more after the match, because during the match you think about tactics, you think about how I need to win the match.

But after the match looking back, it's something that it's tough to control. And I think if you succeed to control it, then you're going to be even a better player, because many times you're gonna have days where you step on the court and you don't feel the ball so well, can miss some shots.

Here even third set when I saved these three breakpoints I think when it was 1-0 for me with a break on my serve, I mean, just go to the net, make volleys, all this stuff. You know that you almost cannot miss. And to beat you he needs to make a winner.

When it's like this, it's really tough to play guys. That's what top players are capable of doing. Hopefully I can do this many more times.

Q. You're one of the more intellectual players on the circuit. You're multilingual. I was wondering, when you're in the hotel and you can't go out, do you like read a lot? Do you read like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Pushkin?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, to be honest, I don't read a lot. I was reading when I was younger, actually liked to read, but now I feel like of course I have time to read if I really find it. But I feel like I have other things to relax more, thinking about tennis, because you practice every day, and then when I come home I have other things that make me more relaxed than reading.

But I was actually, I was studying in good schools, I was in physic, mathematic, let's say, in Moscow, one of the best ones in Russia. I even made one year in one really good Russian university. I think I could learn a lot there, also talking to people, I think I'm good at doing interviews and speeches just because I know how to speak. I don't lose my words unless I'm really scared or tight.

But that's what exams in school teach you and stuff like this. You need to talk to your professor and make him like you to get a good grade, not only know things.

And of course I think it helps on the court also, because I'm really, yeah, trying to make my opponent crazy.

Q. Congratulations. I watched an interview on court after the match, and you talked about some of your frustrations with this season and how you were "complaining" to your wife, but from what I have seen you have had a really good season. The US Open, you played some incredible tennis. I guess my question to you is: What was the difference between you this week and some of the other points in the season? Was it just that extra motivation to actually get there and get over the hump and win a title?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: To be honest with you, it was just in the level of tennis. Again, you know, there were not that many tournaments this year. Start of the year was not easy. First time in London last year.

Not the preseason you're usually used to. Usually I had like eight weeks preseason where you can get tired of tennis but at the same time you come out like a physical monster and you know everything you need to do here. It was like three weeks. I went to Saudi Arabia for one week. Had not that long preseason. Tough ATP Cup where I played really good.

All the small details, they matter. Then after corona I actually had only maybe five or six tournaments to play, two of them on clay, which is not my best surface.

So if we take it match by match, I can just logically say what happened there and here, but then it comes to something invisible, just your level of play.

As I say today, there were some points where Sascha could put me in trouble but I just know what to do and I know I cannot miss this point otherwise I lose the match, and I made it.

And there will be matches where you know you cannot lose this point and you were going to lose the match and you're going to lose this point, and that's when you are losing matches actually.

Q. Congrats on the win today. Next up of course are the ATP Finals, you did not have a lot of success last year. What are you going to do differently this year? What do you expect?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: For sure coming better shape than last year. Last year was real exhausted, lost first round in Paris. That's when you lose your confidence. When you lose first round you always lose your confidence.

Just won the tournament, going to have a few days off. Come to London, practice good. Hopefully can get some wins there. No other goal than just to get some wins, because you play three top-8 players, top-10 players in the group. You get two wins you are probably out of the group but not all the time. Last year Rafa got two, didn't qualify.

That's the most important thing. No goal to really like win the tournament or anything. Just to win matches.

Q. Could you tell us what you told your coach after the match? The TV caught an interesting moment there.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Oh, I honestly don't remember exactly. We just talked about the match a little bit. Like I said, after the first set I didn't think I would win it, because he was playing really good.

But I knew I had to stay in the match. And then of course congrats, thanks, stuff like this.

But I don't remember anything special.

Q. Congratulations. You had to rely heavily on your second serve in the second and third sets. How did you manage to adapt? And also, can you pinpoint any specific part of the match that turned things around for you?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I mean, I think they started turning around, as I said, when I had these four breakpoint games. I didn't manage to do it. I had actually some points where I knew he's gonna serve T, I didn't make it. I had one point where we played a point and I think I missed a shot -- no, he was at the net and he made amazing volley.

I think I started to put pressure on him and that's when it started to turn. I caught this break at 4-All, I played amazing, which is really good.

And about my second serve, yeah, as I say, when you feel on top of your form, you know you can go for a bigger second serve. I saw sometimes I was serving at 180 and I was not even forcing it. I was just going by the flow.

And actually, yeah, I felt that end of second and start of the third set I couldn't find my first serve. I was just missing it all over the place, and that's where my second serve helped me. I think I made only one double fault.

Yeah, I was serving really good, and first shot after the second serve was also good many times.

Q. Many congrats. It was a story really of the taking the advantage of breakpoints. You created 10 breakpoints; you took 4. Sascha created 7; he took 1. When did you feel it was the critical breakpoints where you wrestled the momentum of the match away from Sascha?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, yeah, tennis is all about this. You know, it's also always a question, did you have these breakpoints in different games or not, because sometimes you can have ten in a match but if it was only in one game, and especially if you won it, then you should not count it as ten, you should count it as one, you know.

First set didn't have breakpoints. But yeah, second set started to put a lot of pressure on him. On my serve I don't think I had breakpoints to save second set, which is good.

Same thing in the third set in a crucial moment 1-0, for sure got tight, final, you are 1-0 up a break, you know that this game you have to win with old balls. I knew that then he has one game to serve with old balls and then it's going to be new balls.

So I was fighting for it like an animal. And I managed to make amazing points this game, managed to win and break him with old balls so make it 3-0 double break. Yeah, that was some key moments of the match.

Q. Yeah, you say you like to make your opponents go crazy. Interesting. Have you done any work on your mental preparation? I remember last year in London you had match point, 5-1 match point against Nadal, and let's just say you had slightly a bit of a meltdown. Did you learn much from that match? What did you take from that and how did you improve your mentality after that, your mindset?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, to be honest with you, it was a terrible match. It was a really good match until 5-1, but when you lose such match you can only say it was terrible not only match but terrible mental game from you, terrible tennis game, everything, because you cannot lose a match when you are up 5-1 and a match point. If you want to be on top, you cannot do it.

But after, you will not also all your life just be there crying about this match. Was almost last match of the season for me. I knew I had to leave it behind. Just learn from it and learn how, okay, if you're up 5-1 and you lose even your serve on 5-2, you should not go crazy (smiling), because you are still up.

And, yeah, I have been working on my mental strength for a long time. I think I have done a lot of progress, because even if you see me still doing meltdowns, it's nothing compared to what I was when I was a junior, younger. I worked a lot on it, and I'm really happy with how I'm performing with my mental strength many times.