CHINA OPEN

September 27, 2023

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Hello, everyone.

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the press conference of Daniil Medvedev.

Daniil, welcome back to Beijing. How is the preparation so far for you here? You've always had good results in China.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I came two days ago. Everything fine so far. I love being back in China. So not much more to add. Looking forward to the tournament. It's my first time in Beijing. So far I like it, except the microphone (smiling).

Yeah, I really, really like it here so far. As usual during the tournament not so much time to visit the city. But, yeah, would definitely love to go to the Great Wall if I have time. The thing is that the better I play, the less time I have, so I hope I don't have this time. If I don't play good, at least I can visit Beijing (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions from the floor, please.

Q. Daniil, you had a great run to the US Open final. I'm just wondering if you could say a few words on your ambitions and motivations for this tournament and going into the rest of the season.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, sometimes end of the season can be tricky because all the Grand Slam are finished, so you need to find this motivation. At the same time, we're all competitive, so for me the motivation is to try to win.

It's my first time in Beijing. The tournament is super strong. So if you win it, it's great. It's a great memory. It's great for the confidence.

There are still some important tournaments to come, so the better you play the end of the season, the better you play the beginning of the next one. The motivation is to try to do all this, to continue proving to yourself that you can win these big tournaments, big titles, against big opponents.

Q. This year you played against Carlos three times: the final of Indian Wells, the semifinal of Wimbledon and US Open. At China Open you are in the bottom half of the draw. Carlos is in the top half of the draw. Do you look forward to face Carlos again in the China Open?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, I think if we face each other, we are both happy, we are both in the final. That's a good goal, to try to make this happen.

At the same time, as I said, so many good players. It's tough. It's like a Masters 1000 here or a Grand Slam. In a way it's even stronger than a Grand Slam, where you don't have first rounds, where you maybe can get into the tournament, which sometimes can be the case in a Grand Slam.

It's going to be very interesting. I think it's very rare that we see an ATP 500 that strong. It's going to be interesting to see who copes up better. I think we're going to see a lot of different results where the seeded players can lose and stuff like this because first rounds are never easy.

Q. Since you have practiced here in the Diamond Arena, what is your opinion of the court and how is the speed?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: The arena looks really nice. I practiced both yesterday and today. It looks very, very nice. I'm sure there is going to be a lot of people during the matches. Let's see. I only heard good things. First time I'm going to experience it.

On ATP level, I think I only played in Shanghai and I really like it. I think it's going to be the same here.

About the speed? I think it's quite fast, so I like it. Usually in Asia they put fast courts. This I like. The only thing, the balls again and again, it's almost every tennis player that this season said they go like this (get bigger). For the shoulder, elbow and stuff like this, not good. But it's the reality right now. We have to play like this, so...

But in general, good conditions. I like it (smiling).

Q. Do you feel the passion for the Chinese fans looking to you? Can you tell us a couple reasons why do you think Chinese fans adore you so much?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Oh, why, I don't know (laughter). Why, I don't know. I cannot give you the reason. You need to ask them. But it's true that honestly since my first time in China, which was for challengers, I always felt welcome here.

I love the country. I think maybe that's why, because I don't lie when I say I love the country. I love the food. Probably I love Chinese food as my best food. I love the people. I lover the energy. I think people feel that I'm not lying when I say this, so they love me back. Many times it works like this.

And why? I don't know. I think generally - how to say - it's a very different culture to Russia, but I think we can find some similarities, western similarities. That's why I always feel very welcome.

As soon as I arrive, I'm not even talking about people welcoming me, I'm talking about the general energy of the country. I feel almost like at home here, so I love coming back. It's not like, Oh, my God, it's end of the season, I have to go to China. No, I love being here. I love playing. I think people can feel it.

Thank you.