INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 14, 2024

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

T. PAUL/D. Medvedev

6-1, 6-4

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Hello, everyone.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.

Q. How do you explain your performance? I guess you are not so happy with your match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, was a tough one. Mentally I had to be much better. I started to calm myself down and focus on the match only at the end of the match, and it was too late. I had to do better. I was expecting myself to play better.

In the beginning of the match, different court, different conditions, balls flying out. I didn't manage to compose myself fast enough, and that cost me the match. I have to do better in this aspect.

Q. What about Roland Garros? Who is favorite now for you?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think we should go by the ranking: Novak. Jannik, if he plays. I don't know. Carlos, if he plays. I don't know. Then it's me, No. 4. Who won Monte-Carlo? Stef. If he wins here, could be big favorite, for sure. If he wins two Masters 1000s, he's one of the favorites, too.

I think if Novak and Carlos play, they're two big favorites. They like the surface. They can win Grand Slams. But now it's maybe little bit more open than it was ever before. Good for me, too, because usually in Roland Garros I don't play that well. The more open it is, the better it is for me.

Q. We talk a lot before the tournament, but you didn't manage once again to defend a title. Is it something...

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Well, it's disappointing, to be honest. I wanted to do better here. I was not even close. What can I say? The more titles I win, the more chances I have to defend. So the more tournaments in a year I'm going to play where I already won, maybe not defend, but at least win twice the same tournament, that's what I'm going to try to do.

Again, mentally I had to be better today. When I'm not good mentally like I was today, cannot win. That's what I had to do much better.

Disappointing, but that's how sport is. You lose and you go for the next tournament, which is pretty important one.

Q. I wanted to find out about last night, how did you feel after the match with the other Medved? What do you think about his big game?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Exactly, he has a big game, big strokes. With his strokes, you can go far. Again, famous question is: Is it top 50? Top 30? Top 10? Is it winning Grand Slam? You never know.

A lot of tennis players play well. He has definitely the quality of the ball, the quality of the movement, to be high in the rankings. Then it's up to him to practice well, find something mentally to win the matches like yesterday. I managed to win it.

Yeah, he's young. He has time. Only time will show how good he can become.

Q. Last year you won here your first title on clay. How is your process on this surface that we know you didn't like in the past? I don't know how is the situation now.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I'm feeling much better on clay. What is tough for me on clay sometimes is to get used to conditions, which every court - in every tournament in the world - is a bit different. I don't even know why exactly. Is it because the surface under the court would be different? Is it because the stands, one court is bigger, one court is smaller? The distance from the sides is smaller?

On hard courts it's the same: every court is different. On hard courts, I don't know, I have this ability to kind of quite fast get used to it. On clay I need more time.

First set I was absent. I couldn't put one ball in the court. The court is totally different from central. Mentally if I would be better, at least I would use this time - probably lose the same score - but I would use this time to try to get used to what's happening on the court and be better in the second set.

I lost this time not being good inside of myself. In the second set when I started to work it, it was too late. That's the big problem I have with clay for the moment, is getting used to what I feel on the court. That's something I'm doing better and better with time, better than before.

Again, I have one tournament, or two tournaments, left this year on clay. Both pretty important. Both at the same venue. I'm going to try my best to be good there.

Q. There were a lot of talks about the injuries, how much more competitive is the tennis to nowadays. I remember years ago it could have been very often that a player who played a marathon one day was able to win the next day. I remember Nadal versus Verdasco in Australia. Now it happens much less. Now for some reason if a player has a great fight the night before, the next day he's in trouble mentally, physically. How do you explain it? Has tennis changed? Do the players have a different sort of mentality?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I don't have an answer. First of all, sometimes the perception is not the reality. First of all, we would need to actually check it by the stats if it's true, which could be true. I don't really have an answer.

Let's say if it's true, did tennis become more physical? Maybe yes. Talking again about myself and my match yesterday, I had a lot of times in my career where I was able to do it, the marathon match and win the next day.

I was physically feeling very good today. Mentally yesterday, I didn't drain myself out. It's not like I was arrive at the hotel and I was completely dead. I was feeling good today in terms of mental and physical. Tennis was not there.

Again, I think depends the person. Don't really have an answer. At least for my case, I think I'm able to do it. I hope I'm going to show it many more times.

Q. Your serve numbers have generally been down recently. I'm curious how you feel about that shot right now.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: There is a reason why I practice it less right now, which is my body basically. Now I'm feeling much better, and I was able to serve very well in Madrid. Here I don't know why it didn't click for me. I didn't find it.

Hopefully now I can start practicing again a lot the serves, because I practice a lot of shots. I try to practice a lot. I try to bring a lot of practice hours.

Yeah, there have been times that I was able to do everything except the serve on practice court. I was kind of only serving in the matches. It's a bit tougher. I hope that I can practice it more and bring back the serve I love.

Yeah, it's been down, and it's been costing me some points, some matches. I hope I can get it back.

Q. (No microphone.)

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: A long time already. It's a bit up and down. So let's see.