NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 12, 2021

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/J. Duckworth

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Great win today. Got a little tricky there in the second set. You had a really nice volley, backhand volley to set up match point there at the end. I don't know if you remember it. I was impressed by that part of your game. How did you feel about your game overall today? Just start with that.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Was hitting great today. All of the shots I wanted to do are working, and even if at the end, maybe I lost a little bit of my concentration. He also started to play much better, which is normal. When you're pushed against the wall, you always play better. That's the same for everybody.

I missed maybe one or two first serves and it was enough for him to break me, but really happy with the game at 5-4. Managed to keep my calm, my focus, and managed to win it. Finished with an ace.

So, yeah, really happy with my game. I think when I play like this I'm dangerous for everybody. That's when it's not easy to beat me. Of course it's possible. It's possible to beat everybody. But at least I know from my side that I'm not gonna let it be easy, and, yeah, that's a good feeling to have.

Q. What is sort of the trigger that makes you understand that you're feeling well and gives you that confidence? Is it just how you're feeling the ball off the strings, how you're moving?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's more where the ball goes. So if you looked today, there were some shots, especially on the return, that landed on the line. I remember actually breakpoint in the first set he served to the forehand, and, for example against Sascha, first set I had few breakpoints where I was ready for his serve but was going all over the place.

Here I managed to put it deep on the line. Of course sometimes you can miss by a few centimeters or even 10, or it can be not on the line but 10 centimeters inside the court. But that's when you know, okay, you just have to think about where to put the ball, which shot to make, and you don't have to think anymore, okay, do I have to go under the ball, over the ball? What's going wrong?

So today, everything I wanted to do worked. Of course you will have some mistakes, you'll have some missed first serves. It's never been 100% for anybody. But the better you feel this, the better you play, and that's how I felt today.

Q. Overall, how important is sort of that confidence and that sort of mental state to your game? Is it something where, like, once you start feeling it you could sort of get in a zone, and almost like a couple years ago in the North American swing where you just get into that zone and you don't really leave it?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it's super important for almost every tennis player, and that's where the big three are different, because even if they don't play good and they say it after the match, well, they usually still win, especially on Grand Slams.

That's where it's tougher for younger players, for sure, because the younger you are, the more you see the guy beats first-time, top-10 player in the world, I had it myself, and then the next round he loses to somebody outside of top 100 or something like this. Well, yeah, that's tough to learn.

You know, we have a lot of players even this year who could make some amazing results, and for few weeks losing first rounds. That's what tennis is about. That's why I think people like tennis.

As you say, yeah, it's super important for me also. There were some tournaments even this year where before the matches I was not feeling well, and some of these tournaments I managed to keep up my level and play better and better. Some of them I lost the first round playing terrible. That's what I'm trying to learn every day about myself and just trying to make it work all the time.

Q. During this 2021 you played great tennis. You won some titles. There are still some important tournaments. Do you see yourself in the near future as the next No. 1 in the world?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, to be honest, to be the No. 1, first of all, with Djokovic it's not easy because he's winning almost all the matches and all the Grand Slams, so you need to beat him in the final. So I had a final in Australia. Who knows? Maybe if I would have beaten him, I would be much closer, you know. It's 800 points plus to me, 100 points less to him. But he beat me, so that's the reality.

I just want to try to play my best tennis. You know, if you win two Grand Slams in a year and two Masters, you're going to be No. 1. That's what you need to try to aim for, and so of course I want to be No. 1, but, yeah, I need to win big tournaments and big titles for this. That's what I'm trying to do.

Q. I was just wondering, did you experience anger in your match today? How did you deal with it comparing to your previous match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, I didn't experience any anger at all. I was in control of the match all the match. Of course, the end got a little bit tight, but it's the tightness that is normal. Yeah, of course when you have a 5-2 lead and comes to 5-4, the crowd wants to continue the match.

He made a good point in 15-Love, made it to 15-All, you start to feel, Okay, what do I have to do next to win? Well, I managed to keep my focus, just win two next points, 40-15, made a double fault, I mean, it's about tennis tactics.

Mentally just felt good, because I was feeling great the ball, I was feeling great the match. When it's like this, there is no need to be angry or something like this.

Q. What is the most important lesson that you have learned from competing on the tour so far?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, it would be a lot, because tour is my life, so I don't have another job as probably some other people. That makes life, because I go, I'm on practice court from 8:00 in the morning till 6:00 in the evening, like any other job, so what should I say? Let me think about one thing I can really take out.

I would say tennis tour teaches you to live with yourself, which is not easy when I say this, because many tournaments, even if you have friends, many of them after the match, you come to your room, you're alone, especially before you get married (smiling) so you are alone. You don't see much of people, especially some players they are the only players from their country. It's even tougher for them.

So, yeah, it's either you deal with it and you manage to live with it, which I think is a good thing to manage to do it, or either it's tough and you'll probably break down and it's not going to be easy tennis life for you.

Q. Next up for you, you've either got Hubert Hurkacz or Basilashvili. In Wimbledon you lost to Hurkacz. When you come and maybe play someone who you previously lost to, do you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder, going up for revenge, or are you just trying to play your best and fix what happened?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think, to be honest, it depends who you play. If it's an opponent you don't like to play and you know about it, you're not going to say it here to you, but you're gonna feel a bit tougher, because you're gonna be, like, Well, I don't like to play this guy, what can I do better?

Or sometimes it's just going to be, Well, it's a tennis match. You lost your serve one, two times, lost the match, but you feel like you had control of it, and everything gonna be well the next match.

So I'm not gonna say which one was it, but I saw that Nikoloz won the first set, they are both great hitters, hitting strong. Can do a lot of errors. Just need to be solid, consistent, try to actually control their pace, because as soon as you give them easy ball it's done for you.

That's what I like to do on hard courts, so looking forward to this matchup.