INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 9, 2021

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I'm wondering if your struggles on clay, which are well documented, are they more physical or are they more mental? Second to that, is the fact that the French Open is being played seven months after last year's French Open, so soon after, is that just awful for you?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, about clay, it's everything, actually, because for some players, and I know it because they also say it, you know, for some players hard courts can be tough in terms of injuries, in terms of body, so for me it's clay.

Every time I play first tournaments on clay it's really tough on my body, because I feel like, yeah, my game is not adapted to it, so I have to force my body, my shots. My muscles to do something they are not used to. Physically and mentally in tennis it's very tough, so I need time to get used to, to adapt.

I feel like Madrid was a good tournament finally. Match with Garin was good match also, even if I lost. So hopefully I can get some confidence going more and more.

About Roland Garros, I mean, to be honest, it's last year that it was in strange dates, so this year it's normal clay season with all of the tournaments being held. So I feel like, yeah, I feel like it's good. It's just a pity that one week grass court was taken because of this.

Q. A different week, but I'm sure it's the same goal, to just win a match in Rome and get that out of the way. Now that you achieved that in Madrid, how are you feeling going into this tournament?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, you know, as I always say, when I come to the tournament, of course the big goal is to win the tournament because my ranking doesn't let me do otherwise. But you have to take it step by step.

If we talk about Madrid, you know, of course in general the result I did there, I'm not happy, but I played against two really great clay-court players. I mean, Davidovich beat Berrettini in Monte-Carlo and now Berrettini is in the final in Madrid. Cristian was actually up a set and a break against Matteo who is in the final of Madrid. Was two good matches, one that I managed to win, so gives some confidence.

I feel like, yeah, it's just a bit tougher for me to win matches on clay than maybe on hard courts, but have a really tough opponent no matter who wins the first match against Kecmanovic and Karatsev, and hopefully I can at least make this first step and then get the confidence more and more and then maybe do something more.

Q. I'm not comparing men's and women's tennis, but Naomi Osaka on the women's side has similar challenges to you with clay. Today she was speaking about the decision-making between trying to continue to play your own game that works for you and trying to become more of a clay court-type player. What are the conversations that you have with your coach in terms of what kind of player you want to be on clay? Can your regular winning game work on clay if you execute it?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's a tough question, because if I play exactly like on hard courts, I'm not gonna win on clay. Maybe one match, but I will be lucky if I win it. So I have to adapt my game.

The other question is I'm never gonna be like some Spanish players, you know, that from since they are young they know, Okay, I turn around the forehand, I spin the ball, I play high over the net, I make the ball bounce close to the line.

So I have to, with my shots that I know how to make which work on hard courts, I just have to make small, how I can call it, adjustments to make them work for clay.

That's what I'm trying to do. And again, you know, even if I don't like clay I was able to beat many good guys. Even this year again I played two good clay-court players. I managed to win one in three sets. I lost the other win in three sets. Many times clay it about these three-set matches. Both of them were over two hours. So physically I need to improve and matches will help me. It's about the small adjustments.

As I say, you know, when we watch somebody who likes to play on clay, for example, Sascha he's able to be in the final of Madrid without dropping a set, which is really strong. Me, probably if I want to be in the final one day of a Masters event on clay, it's probably not going to be in straight sets.

But, yeah, I need to work, work, work, and maybe it will turn.

Q. You mentioned your ranking, and I just wanted to follow up about that, because from now to Roland Garros you're defending something like 10 points total. Of course that's a huge shot for you to improve the ranking, possibly even get to World No. 1. Has that been in the back of your mind during this clay swing? Which is already a tough one for you, but I imagine, is it more stress, is it more motivation maybe?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, no stress at all. I feel like clay court will always be the swing for me that the more points I make the better it is. Even talking about Madrid, if I'm not mistaken, I got 90, so plus 80 from two years ago or something like this.

Of course normally doesn't make a difference, but actually, I don't know -- I don't know how much Rafa is behind because he didn't win Madrid or something, but I don't know. Maybe this 80 made the difference.

Every match I win, the further I go in the tournaments, the better for me. I'm not looking to make, like Rafa, 5,000 points during clay season, you know. But the more I make, the better it is, and the better it will be for my confidence on other surfaces, the better it will be for the ranking to be seeded. Maybe on some, yeah, like for example Roland Garros, I don't care if I'm seeded second or third one. Doesn't make a difference for me who to play in the semifinal, to be honest. But some other Grand Slam it can make a difference.