OMNIUM BANQUE NATIONALE

August 10, 2022

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

N. KYRGIOS/D. Medvedev

6-7, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. What was the difference out there today in your mind?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think it's a little bit unfortunate for me because Nick right now, final of Wimbledon, winner in Washington. If he continues like this, he's going to be top-15, top-10 player. He's going to be seeded. You're going to get him maybe one round later.

For me today the biggest difference was that I missed in some important moments some shots. I didn't miss much, but missed just a few where I think it could be different maybe in the later stage of a tournament. That's a pity. At the same time, well, it's like this.

I cannot say we have to change something. It's just a pity. I think it could be different in the other stages of the tournament. That's what made me just a little bit not good enough today to win. He was great. He was playing good. He beat me fairly, if we can say like this.

Q. Nick is a brutal first-match opponent. He's playing above what his ranking is right now. Do you feel if you had more time to work your way in, get used to the conditions, we would have seen a different match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it's possible. At the same time maybe not. I'm not here to say, yeah, if we meet in quarters I would win 6-4, 6-4. No, that's for sure not easy like this. Who knows, maybe we meet quarters and he would win in two.

It's just that, yeah, I felt like I missed some shots where it's just, like... I remember my first match in Los Cabos, it was against Rinky Hijikata, I think he's 230 right now. It was the same. I was missing few shots. I was a little bit rusty, but it was enough to beat him.

When you play against somebody like Nick, a few passing shots I could have done better. I mean, the 15-40 on my serve in second set I get a forehand where I get a little bit tight, I put it in the net, which maybe later stages I would hit it stronger and more confident.

At the same time, again, it is what it is. You cannot change it. I have to be better if I wanted to win today.

Q. You're the defending champion here, the defending US Open champion. We're used to seeing you crush this hard court swing the last few years. This year has been different with Wimbledon and everything you went through. How are you feeling now? How do you want to be feeling going into the US Open?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: At this moment it's tough. I just lost. Look, when you lose, you're never happy, you never feel confident. For sure next two, three days going to be not easy coming back to practice knowing that everybody is still playing in Montreal, fighting for a thousand points, for a Masters winner title. It's not easy.

At the same time I had a lot of tough moments in my career. This is definitely not the toughest. I'm going to try to prepare well Cincinnati same even today. I love playing with these balls, on these courts, these fast courts. This not going to change.

I hope to play well in Cincinnati. I hope to play well in US Open. When I say 'well', it's to try to be the winner. But there are a lot of guys like, guys like Nick, like Carlos, who lost today, but can win Cincinnati, US Open. Stefanos. Maybe Sascha is coming back for US Open. Rafa, Novak, we don't know what's happening. A lot of good guys.

I want to show my best tennis, which today I was close but I didn't show my best. I want to try to show my best tennis in next tournaments, try to do better than here.

Q. You talked a little bit about wanting to play better in the next few tournaments. What will your preparation look like? Do you stay in Montreal or go straight to Cincinnati?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's not super easy decision because Cincinnati is a little bit in the middle of nowhere. At the same time usually from my experience when you stay too long in a place where you lost a tournament, mentally it's tough for the same reason.

I'm definitely not going to come back to the courts here. Probably going to enjoy myself tomorrow in Montreal. Haven't seen much of the city in the previous years. Maybe going to watch the surroundings a little bit. Not sure where we want to go yet.

Probably Friday fly to Cincinnati and try to prepare well the tournament there, which will give me, like, three, four days. Yeah, hopefully can play good there.

Q. When an opponent uses between-the-leg shots, underhand serve, how much does that interrupt your rhythm?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it can. Of course, at the same time, talking about myself, I know what I have to try to do to win a match, to win the next point.

For me it's always a question if he does this shot, I don't care, I will try to win this point. If he does the shot at the right moment, which is let's say when you make a lob, sometimes best choice is winner. If he makes a winner, it is like well done.

Same for the underarm serve today. He did it twice. Once he missed. Once he won the point at 40-Love. He didn't do it at 30-40 in the third. I would be happy if he would do it because I think probably that's me winning the point. When he underarms the first serve, is harder than if he puts the first serve on the line.

Doesn't really matter much to me. It doesn't really disrupt my rhythm. Yeah, I would be happy if next time on 30-40 he does an underarm serve or a tweener. Let's go (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. We know you are playing well right now. Was that something that happened today?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, not really. He played very well. The only thing that was a shame for me is that I played him so early because he is fit. He is among the top 10 or 15 players, so he will soon be a seeded player. It's a shame to have such a player as an opponent in the first round.

Although I played well, I still missed some shots in important moments. I missed some backhands or forehands. I was not used to the court yet, to the tournament. That doesn't mean I would have beaten him on another day.

But he played well. It's really a pity to lose that match. Now I have to go to Cincinnati and try to do well over there.

Q. How do you feel mentally and physically after the week you had in Mexico?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Physically I'm not that bad. I moved well. Mentally also. I didn't talk with my coach yet. There were little things during the match, on a break point for example, where I could have returned better. I thought he was going to serve to my forehand, but he didn't. That's tennis sometimes. I lost the match.

But I felt pretty good. As many players, I could have won. But when Nick is in such good shape, I wasn't able to do it.

Q. You won the first set in the tiebreaker. What happened in the second set? What was the turning point?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: When you win a tiebreaker, it can be good because you can start well the following set. You can have opportunities very soon. This is what I tried to do.

I didn't play very well in the first game. I made some mistakes and he played some good points, so the break happened. Of course, he was back into the match immediately.

With him, you never know. Sometimes if you put pressure on him all the time, he might crack or maybe not. He made it to the final in Wimbledon. I wouldn't have done that...

I lost my serve from the start, and he became confident. It's really a shame. Maybe if it had been later in the tournament, I wouldn't have done that, or maybe I would have lost with the same score, we never know.

Q. When you play against Nick, is it a marathon every time? You know his style of play. He makes crazy shots. Is it difficult to stay focused?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It depends on the surface, on the tournament of course. But mentally I was okay today. I didn't feel he was doing a show today. He just made an underarm serve once. Maybe if it had been 30-40 I would have been happy because he wasn't going to serve an ace then.

Sometimes it can be tough mentally, but today it wasn't. He didn't do that too much.

Q. With the crowd, did you feel it was more on his side or was it pretty equal?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I believe it was sort of split for both of us. But sometimes, well, when you lose the match, you feel the crowd was more for him.

I think they were supporting me when I won the tiebreaker, as well. I would say 50/50.