MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 26, 2021

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/Y. Lu

6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You're the second player after Andrey Rublev to reach 15 wins this season. Could you speak about how happy you are for the start to your year as a whole?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's great. I think it's great for both of us that we are doing so good. I mean, Russian tennis is definitely on the rise right now, and I like it, you know.

We want people to talk more about tennis in Russia. That's what's happening right now. You know, we want TV to show more tennis in Russia. That's one of the goals.

I think when you start to be good you want to promote your sport in your country. I feel like we succeed, and I'm really happy that I have a lot of wins this year. For sure I'm going to see my schedule, going to maybe play a little bit less tournaments than I was usually, but so far happy with a lot of wins.

Q. We have the chance to talk on your first media day about your first rival, that would be either Sam or Yen-Hsun Lu, and you said if it was Lu you have to serve well because he's a great baseline player. How do you feel in your serve here in your first Miami match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think was not bad. Could definitely be better in terms of precision. Actually, I didn't see the percentage but it felt not that bad. You know, it was quite windy, so for sure a little bit tougher to serve. Your toss goes off sometimes. Your zone goes off.

Was serving really good in practice here, so I think it's -- you know, usually the more matches you play in a tournament, the better your serve. The first one can be the most tricky one, so I'm looking forward to the next one so hopefully I can serve even better.

Q. The next one is Alexei Popyrin. You have played him twice. You have beaten him both occasions. When I spoke with him this morning, he was also saying the two of you all have had a few practice sessions together. What are your thoughts going in against Alexei?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, we had few practice sessions this preseason and one afterwards. I think before I went to Marseilles. So was definitely good practice.

But he's a great player. You know, I think still young, still coming up. Great strokes, great serve. Solid baseline player, but he can go to the net, hit winners from all corners of the court. Really great player.

It's going to be a tough match. Looking forward to it. I feel good here in Miami. So again, if I play good it's tough to beat me, and I think he knows that also.

Q. I would like to know which is the story behind your mustache, your new mustache.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: There is actually no story. Sometime, I think it was actually like last year in the beginning of the year I was doing a photo shoot and they were shaving me for the photo shoot, and they just left the mustache for a few minutes. I was, like, it's not too bad. It was a little bit different because they had special shavers and stuff. So I think it was looking better.

Since that time I always thought, okay, one moment I'm just going to do it, you know, for fun for one tournament or something like this. So probably after Miami I'm going to shave them off, but for this tournament it's going to be like this and let's see what people say.

Q. Not a question regarding this tournament but the ones that come after this, the clay. What do you feel you need to do in order to improve on clay? What aspects of your game are going to be the key in that regard?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think it's not about improving. It's about maybe definitely preparing better, because last year I didn't have this preparation. The year before I had it, and I managed to play some good matches on clay, get some good wins.

So this year I'm gonna have it. I'm gonna have a lot of weeks of practice where I'm going to be able to -- on hard courts I'm playing kind of automatically. On clay I don't have it. I need to think about my shots. I need to really, you know, think of what I will be doing next.

I feel like it's all of the small details because you definitely need to put a lot, some more spin. Sometimes you need maybe to hit stronger on clay because the ball is actually flying less in the air.

So a lot of small precisions. Physically you need to be strong. That's what I'm going to be trying to work in practice sessions.

Q. Looks like you're doing a lot more lately with your brand, with Lacoste, like you're wearing the new shoes that just came out. Do you find enjoyment in that side of being a professional athlete like building your brand? How does being No. 2 in the world now kind of affect that? Does it give you more swagger when you go into meetings? Just in general is it something you enjoy doing, working with the brands?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's something I definitely enjoy doing. Maybe I was enjoying it a little bit less in the beginning of my career when you know kind of only how to play tennis. And then people start asking you things like to go in the press conference or something like this and you're like, Why? You know, I just want to hit the ball and that's it.

Now I'm enjoying it very much. About the shoes we have been working for like a year maybe together with Lacoste. They hired some specialists to build the best shoe possible. I know we had a lot of tests together, so was really a constructive work all together and I really enjoyed it. I feel like it's a good shoe.

I mean, movement is important in my game, and I feel like I'm moving good in it. That's the first part.

And then, yeah, I'm enjoying my brand. Being second in the world helps in terms of possibilities. You know, if you're 100 in the world, it's the rough truth, but nobody kind of in a way wants you if we talk about marketing and stuff unless you do something special.

When you're No. 2 in the world, you have a lot of possibilities actually to be working with a brand that you like, because they will be interested in you, and that's how I am trying to build my brand. I work with companies I really like.

Q. Just about the mustache, how long does it take you to grow it? Are you superstitious in that if things are going well, you've got the mustache on, you won't shave it and you leave it until things change or anything like that?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I'm going to leave it for this tournament, but probably after the tournament, even if I win it, no superstitions, going to shave it off. Just did it for fun. You know, I feel like why not, you know? Just experimenting, maybe going to do something else next time.

I forgot the first question. I forgot it. Sorry.

Q. How long did it take you to grow it?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Oh, yeah. To be honest, I don't shave a lot, like I like to keep the burn. And then sometimes, I mean, I shave usually before the tournaments. So I think this one was like probably one month, I would say. I don't really remember. My beard doesn't really grow very fast.