NITTO ATP FINALS

November 16, 2021

Daniil Medvedev

Pala Alpitour, Torino

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Zverev

6-3, 6-7, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Your next opponent will be Jannik Sinner, and I know you have been training together today. I wanted to ask you how Jannik seemed to be physically and mentally and how strong you think he is on these courts so fast?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think Jannik is in great shape right now in general. He won a lot of matches on the rise up. Gonna play his first ATP Finals. Even if was like a reserve, he has full chances to qualify. It's going to be big experience for him. He's still super young. He couldn't play NextGen. So a lot of future ahead of him for sure.

I don't know. We played 30 minutes' warmup, so I have no idea if he has some pain or whatever. I think, yeah, playing in Italy, his hometown, first ATP Finals, for sure he's going to have motivation. Then sometimes it's not easy to play your first ATP Finals.

So gonna see who wins, because for both of them, Hubert played a match against me, but still, it's his first ATP Finals, so for both of them it's the first time. Let's see how they do.

Q. You lead Sascha 6-5 in your head-to-head, but you have won the past five meetings now. How do you always find a way against him?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I always say against a top-10 player for years, which is Sascha, I feel like no matter how many matches you win in a row you can basically lose the same amount in a row afterwards. Every match was different. Some matches I was in control. Some matches I remember he was up, really in control of the match, where I managed to turn it around.

Today's match was a matter of few points, was a really close match. I'm just happy that I made it against such a such a strong opponent, especially this year, has so many victories, titles. So I'm happy that I managed to have the edge in three meetings we had this year.

Not much more to add. You know, if we are talking about the game, maybe I understand his game a little bit, and some things, but as we saw today, he definitely understands mine also. So I don't think it's just a one-sided, there is one-sided opinion about this. I'm just happy that I won the last few matches.

Q. Just to follow on from what you wrote on the lens of the camera, were there times that you were a bit nervous during this match? When you get nervous, how do those nerves manifest with you? What do you feel?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, tough to say, because definitely nerves is something that can play a tricky role, because I feel like sometimes it can make you good. Like you feel you're nervous, just go for the shot, go for the winner. Sometimes you make it, you make the crowd go crazy, if you broke or you won the match, and that's where nerves help you bring the best out of you and the best decision.

Sometimes, well, yeah, one shot you can miss just because your hand was not as free as it can be. I think second set on these fast courts where I had a lot of opportunities to maybe get closer to the match win on his serve was not easy, because it's like you feel the moment that you can, you know, win the match there, he's definitely not going to make it easy for you, and there were a few points where I could have been better, and I think the nerves were part of it.

But then third-set tiebreak, of course both of us were shaken. That's completely normal. Everybody would. Novak, Rafa, Roger. That's why I found it funny, because I think on the TV you don't really see it because I was still going for the shots. I was not missing that much. I made a few great shots, and it was enough to win the match.

So I guess people could look at it and say, Wow, he's not tight at all, but, yeah, hands were shaking (smiling).

Q. You're guaranteed to play on Saturday, and the two Canadians already withdrew from the Davis Cup. Is it 100% given that you will play Davis Cup, or is there a slight chance that you may decide you need a longer break?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: If I don't get injured, two or three last matches, will definitely play Davis Cup. I feel like I think we can be the big favorites there with the team we have, so hopefully we can do big there. Yeah, I'm planning to play, for sure.

Q. I have a kind of different question. You may have heard, and I'm sure you have heard about the incident around Peng Shuai in China, and I just want to know if it's something you thought about in the tennis bubble in Turino? What's your personal view on that?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, look, I think the most important is I hope she's safe, because definitely everybody heard of it. We don't know the exact details of the story, because everything is so blurred, so it's tough at this moment for me to make my own opinion on that. But the only thing is that I hope she's safe, because, yeah, that's all you want to see in our world, people safe and healthy, because that's the most important.

Q. I wanted to hear your thoughts on the foot fault and the video review and just that whole process, how did it go down with you?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, first of all, I think that video review is nice. Should have guessed they should make it one or two during the set, because we have it once a match usually.

It's going to be really rare that we use it, but I knew I had it, so as soon as I heard "foot fault," I was like, Yeah, for sure, show me why not. The thing is I don't know in the rulebook, so it's for you to find out, if you cannot step on the line or you cannot cross the line with your body kind of. Because why I'm saying this is that my foot wasn't there, but a little bit over the line, like few millimeters, but it was not stepping on the line.

So I don't know if, for example, at one moment it's gonna happen, our world is changing, so one moment it's going to be electronic system calling this foot fault, for sure, and I don't know what's the rule. Whether, when you touch it, so you actually step on it, it's going to say foot fault for everybody, or it's going to be like a laser where you pass the line even if your foot isn't there and it's going to say foot fault.

That's I think the most important question, because if you look closely, I saw it on Instagram, again, the toe of the foot isn't there, because it's not touching the ground, but maybe it's still a food fault. I don't know the rule. Yeah, it's up to you.

Q. Are you going to be more in favor after today for the electronic lines than the human beings calling the lines, or vice versa because you like to have some sort of human atmosphere around you? Also, about Sinner. You may have to play Sinner, and if Sinner has won Hurkacz, his match against you will be important for him and it will not be so important for you. I'd like to know what is the psychological side of this combination?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, first of all, about electronic system, first, when we had last year due to COVID, I was kind of more in favor for the electronic system, but now that we have line judge back, I feel, yeah, there is also a charm in it to Hawk-Eye, to know, look the mark, seeing around today I was really bad on the calls, but still, it's a game also.

Of course there can be few moments where you're gonna see, like I think was Berrettini/Zverev, if I'm not mistaken, a break or something for Berrettini, and he thought he missed the shot, and for us on the TV it showed in.

That's where the system would not call it, but it's also part of the game. He should have challenged. He had a lot of challenges left. I was, like, Why don't you challenge?

It's tough to comment on this opinion. I think both sides are good. If we talk about foot fault, that's where it gets tricky, because as I said previously, it's about whether cross the line or step on the line, so I think about foot fault, can be nice because it's not, just by creating electronic system for foot fault, we're not gonna kill the line judge just by this, so I think this can be good, because our world is progression and the most popular sports they have goal line technology or stuff like this. For foot fault I think it can be good.

Talking about Jannik, I think there is actually, so if he wins, I think the match is going to be important for me also because I will, if I want to be No. 1 in my group, I will have to beat him, I think. I'm not sure about all these things.

I just also know that in order to keep the momentum going, it's better to try to win the match. Of course maybe if I lose the first one on 20-18 on the tiebreak, and I know I'm first in the group, then I don't know what happens, I will be honest, but still, I think when you lose the match, you lose the momentum, so it's always better to win.

So I'm just going to enjoy the match today and get ready for Jannik. I think it's going to be our third meeting. It's always, you know, you lose in the head-to-head it's a loss, so I don't like to lose. So I'm going to be 100%.