ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 2, 2022

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

A. de MINAUR/D. Medvedev

6-4, 2-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Tough luck today. What impressed you the most in Alex?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think he played pretty well. I think even third set I had the break up, and he played amazing game on my serve where I served only first serves, and he made some winners. So he played well. Didn't miss much.

I guess did the right choice of shots many times. Actually, I think I had my chances to win the match. Didn't use them. And he managed to keep enough pressure on me at the end of the match to win.

So, yeah, credits to him, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. This hasn't been the best of years when you look at what you have achieved in recent times. Last year at this time Alex de Minaur said, I just wish the year would finish and start a new one. In one sense, do you feel a little bit like that with this year?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, not at all. I have one more important tournament, so I'm really happy to play it.

I was, yeah, happy to be here. I wanted to do better. But that's tennis, you know. Like I just watched Felix win, what was it, 8-6, and at 6-all, I'm going, Whoever loses this match is gonna hate tennis for few days, doesn't matter if Ymer or Felix. Two people, only one can win.

Same for me. Especially last two tournaments were really high level from me. Not that easy to sometimes come from one tournament to another one, even if a lot of players, including me, manage to do it sometimes. I didn't manage to do it this time.

So a bit -- "a bit" -- quite disappointed. Not at all. I want to play Turin. Try to play good there. Try to play high level. And then for sure looking forward to next season to try, and especially to do better in the slams probably. But in general every year on tour I'm happy to have it.

Q. Did you find the crowd to be a problem? You obviously said to the umpire, you weren't happy with how he was dealing with it. So do you think he could have dealt with it more?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, I was not at all talking to the umpire about the crowd. In my opinion, the crowd was nice, were supporting both players. I would say even, 50/50. That's always nice. So nothing to say about the crowd.

In my opinion, umpire didn't do a good match, but when I say it, it's like, I'm not criticizing or something. Like, I can do a bad match, for example. And in the end -- how you say it in English -- my attitude was not good enough. So I can admit it.

In my opinion, he didn't make a good match. But I like Nacho, and I like him as an umpire. I'm talking only about today. That's the only thing what I was talking to him.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Alex talked about a comparison to chess. Do you agree with that?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, it's the case every time when you play tennis. It depends. Tennis is all about tactics, so we can think that it's actually very much the same.

But I would like to say that it was just another match where of course there was a lot of tactics, a lot of mental composure that was required. A lot of fitness that was required.

Q. Did you feel tired after Vienna? Because we noticed that all the runner-ups of last week lost the first set this week. In which shape are you? Were you surprised by the surface?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, I had a lot of matches under my belt back to back, and it's never easy. The positive thing is that you feel confident. And my impression, if you win the first match of the week, that's where you really have a lot of feelings and you have a confidence boost for the next match.

But it's the first match that is the toughest. It was a tough match. Alex played very well. Had he played a bit less well, I would have won. But he made his job, you know, and he won.

As for the surface, well, the only pity is that there was a change of ball. We played Dunlop ATP in Vienna, we played Head here, and we are playing Dunlop in Turin. It's a bit weird. But that was a discussion that took place 20 years ago. There are sponsors at stake so that's the way it is.

As for the surface, I played in Vienna in 2020, and I don't remember how it was. It was very fast, and I liked it. I don't care. I like it fast; I like it slow. It doesn't matter. But in Vienna it was three times faster, so it was more difficult to get adjusted.

Had I won, I would have never said anything about it, and maybe I would have played even better for the second match.

Q. There is Dubov, very well known as a professional chess player, said he liked you very well. Will you play together during the season in tennis or chess?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, if he's a professional player, he will definitely beat me. So let's play tennis together. It's better to find something else where we could be on the same playing field.

The only way I could play with a professional player is a situation where you're leading and then you have to wrap up the match, and that would be interesting. You wonder if you're going to manage to finish or not.

I didn't know that. So I'm gonna watch this interview, and maybe I'll see some of his games and talk to him.