US OPEN

August 27, 2024

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/D. Lajovic

6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Four sets. Assess your performance today.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, tough match. Dusan did play well. The first two sets he was playing really well. I'm happy that I managed to keep my level. In the second set I feel like I played really well. He just played better. I kept my level. He dropped a little bit third and fourth set. I managed to play better and better from that.

Happy with my level moving forward.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I'm curious how you found the conditions out there today with the temperature. Also, you participated last year in that crazy match with Andrey and if you think about it much when you are here and what you think about it?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, for sure. New York can be brutal. It depends more probably on the humidity than the heat itself. I saw that tomorrow is the hottest day, so probably lucky in a way to play Tuesday/Thursday. But it's going to interesting tomorrow for guys who play at 12:00 or 1:00, not going to be easy.

Today, the same. It was hot. You could see in the fourth set he was struggling a lot. I was not in my best shape, but there was a break point. I think 32 shots someone told me after.

At the end I was, like, even during the point, I almost could not move anymore, but the last shot he couldn't move at all. I was like, well, okay, we're both in the same position.

It was hot. It was humid, and you try to do what you do. Ice towel, drink a lot of water, et cetera, and you fight. It was definitely much easier than with Rublev last time, with the weather.

Q. I think you probably are not used to coming in here with as many matches as you normally have. I'm curious, maybe not as much momentum. Maybe you are feeling pressure. How do you assess where you are right now?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I definitely had a very good preparation because I lost early in Cincinnati, so the preparation there was almost like a little bit like a training block, which I couldn't get after Wimbledon.

I played a good Wimbledon. I had two, three days back home before Olympics, Olympics, Montreal straight away. So no really days to practice. This can sometimes bring a little bit worse results in a way.

I like doing training blocks, so I had it here. Look, in Montreal and Cincinnati I knew it was not my best tennis, and it happens. It was important for me to come here, feel excited, feel ready, try to play better.

I managed to do it back on the winning ways, and I will try to win a lot of more matches.

Q. Daniil, just curious, there's been a lot of discussion about Jannik Sinner's anti-doping case. I'm curious, some people have been quite critical of it. I'm curious what your perspective is on it.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I think my perspective is a little bit -- I think I saw Taylor, and I really like what he said. He said, Look, it's only him who knows what happened exactly, so we cannot know. Nobody can know like the exact truth except him, his team, and maybe the guys who, like, the independent tribunal.

I hope this situation can be the same for every player, like every player can defend himself, because I think what he did wasn't within the rules. It's just the rules are a little bit vague, et cetera.

For me the only thing where I'm a little bit, like, doping cases make me scared is imagine -- so he knew what happened, and good for him, so he managed to defend himself. Imagine whatever tennis player in the top 100 gets an email, and they say, Look, there was cocaine in your blood.

You come to them and you say, Well, I never did anything in my life. I don't know how did it get there. When you don't know, you get suspended. That's a little bit the tricky part, but that's how, yeah, doping rules are.

It's okay. You go with it. As I said, I just hope it's the same treatment for every player.

Q. Just to follow up on what you just said, since the Sinner thing happened, do you find yourself mentally making more notes about things you touch, things you eat, things you drink?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: No, I always try to take care of this. Then, yeah, as I say, you never know what can happen in life. Yeah, some of the doping cases -- I'm talking about all the sports -- in many, many years we had, some of them seem ridiculous, but a lot of them are ridiculous how, like as I say, it happened where you're like, Yeah, I'm sorry, that's how it happened. Life is ridiculous sometimes.

No, I take care of it all the time, and then you never know what happens, so yeah.

Q. A less serious question. You're known for your sense of humor, and you speak multiple languages quite comfortably. Is there a particular language you find easiest to express your sense of humor? Is there an audience that is more receptive than others?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Tough to say. I would like to have a good sense of humor in any language, but I would probably say, don't even know why, but English is probably a little bit like easygoing language. It's easier to express yourself maybe.

But, yeah, I speak three languages. I like to speak them. I would definitely like to learn more, and I do think I have, like, what's called the ear to speak other languages. Then I'm just a bit too lazy. I don't have much free time, and when I do, I'm, like, to start learning new language, it's exciting, but it's a bit overwork, and I have a lot of work to do, so maybe later.

Q. In terms of phrases in English when you were learning it that you found funny or silly coming from Russian?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I don't remember. There are a lot. Tough to remember like this, but for sure when learning, there were a lot of phrases that, like, catch your eye in a way. And especially what is sometimes, yeah, funny, when you start learning a language.

So now when I speak to you, I don't think, like I don't translate. I just speak. At first when you speak Russian to yourself and then you translate, that's where the funny phrases can come from because you mix up words, et cetera. Now I'm not going to remember anything like this fast.

Q. We're coming up on five-year anniversary of your famous when you go to sleep at night thing. I'm sure a lot of fans are going to celebrate that on the internet, the five-year anniversary. Do you want people to celebrate that and to remember that?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: To be honest, look, there are some things in my career I'm not happy of, but this interview was probably my best ever after the match (laughing). I absolutely, absolutely love it. If people want to celebrate, I'm there for it.

Q. Daniil, when you think of Novak winning the Olympics and saying that's the greatest achievement of his career after all he's done, what are your thoughts on what it means as you look at his career as somebody who is a competitor of his?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Amazing. I mean, you know, Novak, Rafa, Roger, we all know they're amazing. Their Grand Slam records, et cetera. Whenever Novak wins a Grand Slam, you are always -- in his age -- well, the last one was here in US Open -- you are always amazed by what he is doing, what he is continuing to achieve. You are, like, we're used to it.

Then Olympics for me personally, unfortunately, I didn't see the match. I was in Montreal, time difference. I think I had a practice or something. But me personally, I thought the way Carlos is going into the match, won Roland Garros, won Wimbledon against Novak, played amazing in Olympics, and I honestly thought he's going to win.

Then Novak, 37 years old. I saw some highlights. Playing maybe the best match of the season. I was amazed by how he's able to come into this match where there is a lot of pressure -- that's the only thing he never won -- and still be even better than himself usually, and beat Carlos, who was unstoppable this year, I was amazed even more, even if I'm already amazed by Novak. So, yeah, unbelievable, and not much more I can add.

Q. When you think of what he says about still motivated to do all the work that's involved, something you're very familiar with, to do it here, to do it in future majors, what goes through your mind?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Same. Respect. He respects the hustle. He respects the game, respects the work. He goes for it, goes for it until the end. Everyone has different routines, and he has his that works.

Yeah, for sure to see this, it's big admiration I would say. Not sure I would be able to do the same, but it's a big admiration, yeah.