US OPEN

August 27, 2021

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Two years ago when you made the final here, you had a good run in the series, you said beforehand you didn't have high expectations. Once again a great couple of results in the series, No. 2 in the world. How have your expectations changed? Do you approach the slams a little bit differently now?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, definitely, a lot more expectations than before because I remember 2019 very well. My best result on a slam was Australian Open fourth round. It was only fourth round I actually got. I said honestly the goal is to try to make it to quarters. I was in good shape.

Now I have two finals. Yeah, need to win, to make a better result at a slam if I want to make it better.

I was playing good both in Toronto and Cincinnati, were same balls, quite same conditions, hot, humid. I just want to continue this level. When I play good, I know that I can cause troubles to my opponents. That's the most important.

It's a slam. There are going to be some tough matches. There are going to be some tough opponents the further you go. Hopefully that's what I'm going to try to do. You can never say before the tournament, Yeah, I'm thinking to win quarters 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. No. Just want to play good, and I have chances to do good in this year's US Open.

Q. How would you describe the opportunity and the competition among the guys who have not yet won a major but are near the top of the game?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think it's good. Probably all want to be the first ones to make it. Actually Thiem is the first one, if we can call it NextGen, which we are not anymore, but we were kind of in this group, he was the first one to do it last year. Out of the big three, only Novak is here, who is of course going for the Grand Slam.

Stefanos was in the final of Roland Garros, two sets up. I was in the final in Australia, not two sets up but still in the final. We're going to try to get him. Of course, this competition to be the first one of these young guys to win a slam is, I think, yeah, everybody wants to do it, but there's going to be only one who makes it.

Q. You're playing someone in the first round who has a lot of experience. What do you think of the matchup, what you gained from playing him a couple times in the past?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, tough matchup, playing Richard in the first round. Never easy. I think he was in semis one time here, if I'm not mistaken.

I played him last year in St. Petersburg, lost the first set, managed to step up and win the other two. Yeah, I'm not going to talk tactics. But, again, tough opponent. I need to play well from the first point till the last one to beat somebody like Richard. I'm sure he doesn't want to play me either in the first round.

Just want to play good. Been practicing good. Ready to go out on the Monday.

Q. Last year you saw what it was like to play here without any fans. Two years ago you had quite fun back and forth with the spectators. What do you think it will be like having a full house back here in New York? How does that change things?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, first of all, really happy that there is going to be full crowd capacity in New York. That's just huge. That's cool.

Actually it's funny because I don't know, it's tough to say if it's going to be the same people or nobody remembers two years ago. It's going to be funny on my first match to see how the crowd reacts to see me back in New York with fans here.

I just hope, because it finished on a good note, it's going to continue the same way. I love a New York crowd. It was amazing experience in 2019 in every aspect. I'm just curious to see what it's going to be like again on my first match. I'm going to try just the best I can to show a good level of tennis and by this way to make fans support me.

Q. In general over the last year and a half, you've seen what it's like to have basically nobody there. How does that change things for you whether there is a crowd or is not a crowd?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I would say the biggest change is that without the crowd, probably a bit tougher to change the match. If you're not playing Roger or Rafa or Novak, many of the matches which you're going to be losing, the crowd's going to go for you, because they want a longer match, they want it to go to three sets. They're going to pump you up. It is the same for the other guy. When there's no crowd, it's only you who can try to change it.

I think, for me, that's one of the biggest differences because after, we all know how to play tennis, so when you step up there, you know there is millions of people watching on TV so you're still going to try to win. We play Masters 1000, we play Grand Slams without fans. Still it was kind of the same guys going further, it was some great matches that you could see on TV, but I think the biggest, yeah, energy that the crowd gives you, when you don't have it, it's tougher to change the energy of the match. I would call it like this.

Q. Earlier you referred to the big three. They have, of course, won majors over and over. How would you describe what you've learned about what it takes in terms of strength of body and mind to get that far and win a major?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's probably, yeah, the toughest thing in tennis because, again, it's just about the thing that you play seven matches, yeah, and out of five sets. So sometimes, I don't know, you're not going to feel your best in the first round, you're going to play a five-setter. You're going to win it, you know you have six matches to go. Who knows, maybe some of them also in five sets. That's the toughest thing.

Some ATP 250s, going to be bye first round, it's out of three, and you have four matches to win out of three. It's different than seven matches out of five sets. That's where the big three are amazing, that they were always able to be in the finals and semifinals, where for two weeks nonstop for all of the sets they would not have this level drop, and they would always be on top of their opponent.

That's what I'm trying to learn, probably everybody else. I feel like I progressed a lot in this aspect. Again, that's what I need to try to do here.

Q. With Novak, what are the factors that make him so great? What is the one shot you consider his best shot or the one attribute that makes him so great?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: If I will have to choose just one, I'd probably say the movement. But then of course it's everything. I played a lot of matches with him, and it's also normal when you play these top players, of course you're going to have tactics. He's going to have them also prepared.

Every match is a new story. Just talking about it, I remember Australian Open when I lost to him, but it was in the fourth round, 2019 also, and at one moment of the match I felt like if I just go on his backhand and I try to make him play a lot of balls, this tactic would work not bad. The next match I would try to do the same and he would destroy me.

Depends so much on the conditions, on the guy today, him on me. Depends. That's why we like tennis: every match is a new story. If I would have to choose one, it's going to be the movement. If not, he's probably one of the most complete players in the history of tennis, backhand, forehand, return, serve is not bad also (smiling).

Q. Obviously Novak is chasing some big history in New York. Would you reflect on all he's been able to accomplish in his career, given that he's done a lot of it in the same era as Roger and Rafa.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: He's just amazing. I have no other word because, again, as you say, when he came, there was Roger, Rafa there already. I mean, probably even me as a kid, because I was still a kid, every fan in the world thought, Okay, Novak, great player, but going to be there, maybe win few slams, but never going to be the same level as Roger and Rafa because, well, they're amazing. Rafa, with his ability to fight. Roger, with his easiness on the court and everything.

He was able to almost break all the records in tennis, if I'm not mistaken. To be honest, I think he's going to break few of them in next years to come. Of course, we can never know about injuries or whatever. That's what is amazing about him, about his mental strengths, about his tennis strengths also because, well, there are other guys who are strong mentally who are not able to achieve what he has done.

Yeah, for me, as you actually said, it's amazing that he managed to achieve it when Roger and Rafa were there before him.

Q. Is it a sense of relief you get when you get through the clay and grass court seasons, get back on a hard court? How do you experience that? You want to improve on the other surfaces, but you've had the best success on the hard courts. Do you feel much more at home?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: 100%. As you said, I know that there is clay season, grass season, that I need to play good these tournaments. There are Masters 1000, there are two Grand Slams. I want to improve. I want to try to win a slam one day on these surfaces.

I've done pretty well in Roland Garros. Wimbledon could have done better, but I like playing on grass. As you said, when I play on hard, that's where I feel the most comfortable and confident. I can still lose matches, I don't win every tournament I play, that's completely normal. But that's where I enjoy myself the most.

Yeah, that's just how it is.

Q. It's wonderful to watch you play the sport. It's said that you play like you're playing chess. You've spoken briefly about chess in the past. Go on a deep dive on that. Can you talk about tennis and chess, controlling the center, fast starts, defense to offense? Anything you can say?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I mean, to be honest, since I was young, I was always hearing about other players, top players before, that tennis is similar to chess. So when I'm on the court I never think about chess, but I'm thinking, Okay, which shot do I do next to make my opponent in trouble? That's what you do in chess. You think about three shots in advance.

I think that's a little bit tougher in tennis because, well, it goes so much faster. It's not like your opponent made a shot and you are there for two minutes saying, Okay, where do I go next?

But you do this in practices. You work with your coach. Let's say, I don't know, you play two cross-courts, one down the line, your opponents go cross, you try to hit it down the line, you go to the net, whatever. These things, they become automatic for you on the court.

Yeah, that's why many matches, especially again in the later stages of slams where it's out of five, we see some turnarounds, we see some crazy things just because, yeah, that's what tennis players do. We try to change our tactics. Sometimes it won't work. We try to make our opponent in trouble. That's the most important thing.

Q. I know you said you think Novak is going to end up breaking a lot of records. Some people think he's going to get to 25 or 26 majors down the line. You can't predict the future. Do you think that's sort of inevitable or do you have confidence that you and Sascha and Stefanos and the other guys can start to win a lot of majors now or soon?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, well, since I'm here, I want to say I'm going to try my best to keep it at 20 for all of them. Again, yeah, tennis is about winning tournaments and winning matches. He's very good at it. For sure he wants -- I'm sure Novak wants 45 slams, play till 55. But we're here to try to keep up his level and to beat him. Exactly as you say, he was going for Olympics. Was up a set and a break against Sascha. Sascha managed to bring on amazing level to beat him. That's what you have to do against him.

Again, we're here to not let him win the US Open. If I talk just for myself, I want to win the US Open. I don't care if it's in the final against a qualifier or against Novak. I just want to win this tournament.

But we all know that Novak, he's a very strong player, one of the best in the history. That's why any tournament he's in, either a slam or futures or an ATP, he's a big contender, a big favorite.

Q. For a long time the slams have been the biggest three. You said you're there to stop him. Do you ever think about what the dynamic on the tour is going to be like when the big three are not going to be around? How do you think the dynamic will change in terms of the switch in mentality of instead you're hunting someone, you're going to be the hunted? Do you think the dynamic will change in terms of the competition and the mentality of players on the tour?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's impossible to say because you know, first of all, there was tennis era where there was no Roger, Rafa and Novak. Well, there were other champions who were winning slams, sometimes in a row, sometimes a lot of them in the year. I'm sure it's going to be the same.

Of course, again, I want to be the one when they retire, yeah, I want to take a Grand Slam, Olympic Games in the same year, all the Masters, everything.

We have a bunch of strong players already for some time close to doing something big. There is going to be definitely new guys coming. It's always the case in any sport. We can never predict if, for example, when they retire there is going to be a new three or four guys who going to take over the slams or it's going to be just guys changing because of the surface, because of the moment.

So, yeah, what these three did is something exceptional in sport, I want to say, which maybe will not be there in tennis for a hundred more years, or maybe it's going to be the same in 10 years after them. We can never know.

Q. I want to say you are my prediction to win the US Open this year. Did I make a good pick?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Definitely. I'm going to try for you, man. I'm going to try for you. I'm going to try my best. I have nothing else to add (laughter). Thanks, man.