ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 12, 2023

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/L. Sonego

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You looked good. You started well today. This must be a source of confidence for you.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: On clay it's much more difficult for me to feel the game. After the match, it's difficult for me to say if I played well or not, but I was told I played well, and the score was okay with me.

I felt in control during the match. I'm very happy. This makes me confident for the next match. It's going to be a tough one. It's going to be a big test against Zverev, so I'm happy today.

Q. Against Zverev, it's almost a real final. Everybody will expect that match.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, there are other players. Tsitsipas won twice here, but indeed we had many big matches, Sascha and I. Sometimes when one of us wins, he goes to the final or wins the tournament.

So we had big battles and I know he likes clay, so I will need to be very good tomorrow to try to beat him.

Q. You won something like 26 out of 27 matches lately or something like that, so you built up your confidence since the Australian Open. Is it useful on clay even if you don't really like the surface?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yes, it does, because when you're in practice, you don't know where you are. And in the first match you know a bit better, so maybe these previous tournaments helped me to win, I wouldn't say easily, but at least with some space.

I will try to take match by match, and I will try to use that confidence to try to win against the big players, great players.

Q. On TV you were talking about the bad bounces. Since Sunday you say you don't like clay. Aren't you lying to everyone? I'm sure you're a poker player. You're putting everybody asleep.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I hope for the other players -- I don't know, but for me, if someone says before playing me that Medvedev wins many matches, I'm not even going to try, well, first I wouldn't even know about it, because I don't listen to the interviews, but I know every player who plays against me will not play not as good. If it happens, I will be happy.

But anyway, I don't like clay, and even if I win matches, I prefer hard courts. But I will do everything to win all the matches.

Q. You speak very good French. What is your relationship with the French?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I lived in France at 18 years old, and after, when I was 21 or 22, I moved to Monaco where everybody speaks French too. All my team speaks French.

So after a while, I started speaking French. I like languages. I believe I have some talent for languages. So when my career will be over, I will see if I don't want to learn Spanish or Italian, because it's close to French, but as long as I'm playing tennis, well, I would have time but I don't really want to dedicate my time to study languages.

Q. When you come to the clay, is it a completely different sport that has nothing to do with the rest of the year?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yes, it's true, because you need to play differently. You need to find different angles, play higher, the serve is different. Also, because there are bad bounces, even if an opponent doesn't serve so hard, you can have trouble returning.

There are many little things you have to adjust. It's a different style of tennis, and once again, I know that it is normal that we have that in tennis, it wouldn't be normal to play 12 months a year on hard courts. But personally, I'm happy when the clay season is over. But once again, I will try to do well anyway.