INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 20, 2023

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/S. Tsitsipas

7-5, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you get us through the day, which has been very long for you.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Oh, yeah, very long day for everybody: for the fans, for me, for Stefanos, for referees, for Nicola (smiling), for everyone.

It's been a little bit hectic, but I want to say I don't think that tournament or ATP has anything to do with this. I think the schedule was good. Just rain was not heavy enough to say, okay, we postpone the match for two hours, but heavy enough to not let us play.

I warmed up probably five or six times. Where we warm up, there's no TV, so we don't know what's happening. Many, many times they start opening the court. So we are like, Let's warm up, because we have 10, 15 minutes. It's not easy to warm up in 10, 15 minutes. We run there with my coach. Start warming up. Receive a text they are closing the courts, rain is heavy. Many, many times like this. I knew it's not going to be easy both for me and for Stefanos.

So then it was a question of to try to play your best no matter what. I managed to do it, so I'm really happy.

Q. Tomorrow if you win, you become the No. 2 in the world. I think the trophy is maybe more important for you. In a point of your career where you already have been No. 1 in the world, is it something you're still looking, the ranking, or more about trophy?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Honestly, I don't. It's great to go up the rankings. Like when I became No. 12 in the world, I was disappointed. I was top 10 for some time. I didn't play well enough, so I dropped out of top 10. Tough, not easy feeling. At the same time I knew that if you get the titles, you going to get back into the top 10. That's what I managed to do.

It's the same about tomorrow. If I manage to win tomorrow, it's plus 400 points in the race, in the rankings also. It's great.

But the title for me is much more important because, again, it comes together. It's not like you get the title and don't get the points. Yeah, it's together. I want to just try to win tomorrow.

Q. What do you think about Rune tomorrow? He's been beating all of the top players. Impressive lately.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, I said after I lost to him in Monte-Carlo, I think he's one of top players on clay court. I think that's the surface that suits him the most. We know he can play on other surfaces, also. He won Bercy. I think that's, let's say, his favorite surface.

I'm feeling much better than I felt in Monte-Carlo. I had much more matches and much more practice. I'm going to try to play my best.

But he showed today that even in the toughest moments he can play amazing, beat anyone. I'm sure it could be a great match and I'm going to try to show my best.

Q. What about the dance? It's quite similar to Cincinnati 2022 with the defeat of Tsitsipas.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, you know, I don't dance a lot after I win, but sometimes it happens. I was just really happy with the win.

This dance, when I saw it, they showed me, I saw it on one TV like almost straight after. I was like, This looks ridiculous. But when I'm going to see it in a year or maybe in a month, I'm going to be like, That's memories. That's memories. That's fun.

I went into my first Masters final, so I was just feeling great. But, yeah, it doesn't mean I'm going to dance after every match.