QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 25, 2023

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Murray

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Doha champion. How does it feel to be champion?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's actually true that I think to get a title on the debut is even better feeling. Some tournaments, like last week, Rotterdam, was my fifth appearance there. Got a title.

This time, first time in Doha, happy with the week. Managed to -- no, I wanted to say not drop a set. No, there was 7-5 in the third. But happy with my level. Tough matches. Not easy conditions, and really happy to have this falcon right next to me.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. This is your first trip in Qatar. Apart from championship, how is your experience in different region of the world?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I felt good. Unfortunately, because I came after winning the title, I had no time to visit the city, maybe some restaurants. When you come here before the tournament, like three, four days to prepare, you have time to discover. I had absolutely zero time to discover. And tomorrow I have to fly fast to Dubai.

I will be honest, I haven't seen much of the city, but the tournament is great. From what I saw from the window of the car, the city looks nice. I only heard good things about this tournament from other players before.

Happy to have my experience here, and, yeah, only good emotions. Nothing bad to say.

Q. Congrats. It's good to see you back at this level. Does that remind you how you felt in summer of 2019?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: To be honest, every time you get a title, you feel great and you feel like this winning feeling is back, you are back, you can get even bigger titles, even bigger wins. But that's all about confidence, and confidence, as it can go really fast, it can go away really fast with one loss.

So I feel great right now at the moment. I have a tournament to play next week, so it's a new week, a new challenge, and then we go to USA to the other part of the world, jet lag, everything. Right now I'm feeling great, and I want to try to continue feeling this way.

Q. Congrats on your win. This game has been described as a game between the new generation of tennis and the old generation. Can you just speak on what it means to play against Andy Murray? You spoke on how he's an icon for you and someone that you knew was going to be a tough match. Just speak on that.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I knew it's gonna be tough, especially with the conditions here, quite slow with balls that get super, super fluffy. So at one moment it's like you feel like you're throwing, I don't know how to call it in English, but when you throw a big heavy ball.

And it was tough for both of us, and it's tough to make a point. Just have to run, to struggle. That's what he likes to do, that's what I like to do. So I knew it's going to be a tough match.

You know, talking about, like, new generation, old generation, well, I'm 27, so I don't think I'm any more new generation. I'm like medium (smiling).

So just, yeah, was just happy to see Andy on the other side of the net because he's such a legend. It's every time I play against him, Novak, Roger, well, not anymore, Rafa, it's just amazing feeling. It's amazing atmosphere all the time. I was happy to share this final with him.

Q. Congratulations. You obviously gained a lot of confidence from last week. Can you talk about adapting from indoor to outdoor? Was it an issue at all? It took a couple of days before you played the first match.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: To be honest, it's very tough, but what is crazy, confidence helps a lot. So as I said, you can spend here a week here trying to prepare, but if you don't have the confidence, sometimes you feel like you're doing the right things but then you lose a match.

It was very tough, like I don't think there was one match, probably with Felix I felt not bad, but the other matches I was not feeling well, the ball, the atmosphere. It's very, very different to Rotterdam. But with the confidence, I managed to make the right break point, the good serve at the good moment.

I think the toughest for me was to get used to the balls. I want to talk a little bit more about it, because in Australia I felt like these balls were not good for hard courts, and in the match with Korda, before the match, I had very big pain in my wrist, but I thought, okay, that's my problem, so I'm not going to talk much about it.

Then in Rotterdam, when doubles players came to me and started talking about balls and started talking that everyone has problems with elbow, wrist, from doubles players, he thinks it's because of the balls. I'm like, Wow, so I'm not the only one.

Now I see Rune, Tsitsipas, who else, Korda, all wrist, elbow, shoulder. So I think that these balls are not good for hard courts. They get very fluffy, and as I say, it's a big shock to play them with your racquet. I think this should be reconsidered, because I feel like if I don't do enough job on my wrist every day, it's gonna just, you know, I don't know, be very painful. So, yeah.

Q. Congrats. Now you said that you like Qatar, would you be back maybe next year to regain the title, keep the title with you?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think it's very possible. You never know, because the thing about this part of the season is it's either you decide to go to Mexico or you stay in Europe and then you play Doha, Dubai.

I liked it in Mexico also. I liked it here. So I tend to change things up all the time just, you know, trying different things. I like to discover new conditions, new countries.

So I'm definitely gonna be back in Qatar. I don't promise it's going to be exactly next year, but this is very possible. Right now I cannot announce it 100%, but I liked it here. I won here. That's good memory. So there is a good possibility I'm going to be back.

Q. You made some comments about the balls, which are quite clear. Has any approach been made to the ATP about this issue?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I haven't talked. I talked a little bit to the supervisor, but the thing is that I wonder what other players think. You're not going to be in the locker, you know, coming to every other player asking about the balls.

So maybe if people going to start asking them, maybe finally I'm going to be the only one arguing about the balls, and then I'm just, that's my problem. If there is going to be 15 players that come out and say, Yeah, I feel the same, then it's a problem of the balls. I'm just going to wait and see what happens when other players get asked this question.

Q. Congratulations. In Dubai you share the upper side of the draw with Djokovic, Murray. What do you expect? You are in straight victories now. The rival to beat perhaps?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I actually haven't seen the draw. You know, usually I don't care, but in Rotterdam I didn't look the draw of Doha. I'm, like, Okay, I'm not going to look the draw of Dubai and Doha also.

So I don't know who I play. I didn't know I was in the part of Novak's draw. Yeah, I want to say every match is going to be difficult. Again, I don't know who I play the first round. I have to take it match by match.

If I want to reach Novak, probably what you say is semis, it's a great challenge because Novak barely loses matches, so there is a big chance he's going to be in the semi unless someone plays the match of his life and manage to beat him.

But Dubai is a very strong tournament, so big challenge to come from here and play there. I'm going to try to be 100% physically, because that's the most important. If you're not, it's tough to beat anyone, and that's what I'm going to try to do.