Daniil Medvedev, not without some difficulties, faced Alexander Muller in the second round of Wimbledon, winning the match in four sets. At the press conference after the victory he spoke about a funny episode that happened to him in the tiebreak of the first set and how he managed to stay calm in difficult moments of the match. In addition, the Russian tennis player told why, unlike many other great players, he decided to participate in the Paris Olympics, and admitted that he would not be angry if one day his daughter broke his US Open cup.
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“I think I have a better chance of making it to the Olympics in pairs and mixed doubles than in singles”
— It was a tough match, the opponent played very well, but I didn’t show my best level. It was a tough match, there were moments when it could have gone even more in his favour. But I’m glad I was able to stay calm, I still served quite well, he only made two breaks, which is good for four sets. I will try to play even better and adapt to the centre court. Looking forward to the next round.
— I asked you about the service from below. How many of these did you do today, two or three? – Two or three. It was definitely two.
– Are you waiting for this? “I was surprised on the first serve. But I could have played better on both serves. He is the one who makes this decision. It is like a normal shot, in both cases I managed to get to the ball, but I could have played a little better and won the point. I didn’t win, but after that I was more prepared for this, if I had tried again, I could have played better. Maybe that is why he didn’t try again, he understood that I was ready for this. Everything is fine. I myself wanted to enter the match, but this opportunity did not present itself. If the score was 40:0 or 40:15, I would have called it that myself, just for fun. But there was no such opportunity, nothing.
— What happened in the first set tiebreak? — I thought the score was 6:4. I was very upset with myself and because he was playing so well. 2-0 in the tie-break, I take it well and he hits from behind, catches the net and the ball pops out. It seems like he did this 12 times today, it’s unbelievable. I was very upset with myself and with the situation. I had a lot of break points, but he only had one. All this fell on me during the tie-break, I got a little scared and thought: that’s it, the set is over. I heard the umpire tell me something, but I thought he just wanted to calm me down. And then I hear: “Daniel 6:3, 6:3.” I think, what is he talking about? And then I saw the score. I don’t know if this has happened to me before. It was funny. I thought: “What if this is my second chance to win the set?” But then I lost a point. I’m glad I was much calmer in the second set. He was winning 3:0 in the tiebreaker, but I kept my cool and was able to turn the match around.
— Do you plan to play in the Olympics? — I will be there 100% if everything is in order with my health.
— Many tennis players refuse, why did you decide to go? – It was an easy decision. I really liked Tokyo, I liked the atmosphere. And there was still Covid, there were no people, but I still liked the atmosphere. I’m sure it will be even cooler in Paris. If you think exclusively about your career, then it’s better to go to Canada to prepare for the tough season. But when I’m 40, I’ll be able to say that I played at the Olympics in Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, I had a lot of interesting things in my life, in my career. I’ll be happy, I’ll prepare a lot for doubles and mixed doubles, I think I have better chances there than at Roland Garros singles. I’ll have a great time and play for fun.
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– Three years ago you played five sets here against Hurkach, this year at the AO, also five sets. What do you respect about his game and what challenges does he present? “It inspires respect and at the same time causes difficulties, which I don’t like.” This is his speech. I don’t think anyone likes to receive a serve from Hubie, and on grass it is even more difficult to do so. We had important, difficult matches. This year, apparently, in the fourth tournament of the year he has already played 25 tie-breaks. Yes, he has a strong serve that is not easy to receive. And he knows how to play on the line; he played well in Halle. A strong opponent, at Wimbledon you don’t want to end up in the same half of the draw as him. It seems that we are on different levels.
“I have a prediction on who will win more Slams, Sinner or Alcaraz. But I won’t say.”
— Carlos is the current champion here. How is it to play against him compared to other top players? —Carlos hits very hard. Around the age of 17, he often missed shots and you thought: “Okay, his shots are crazy, but at least he doesn’t hit.” Nowadays he rarely misses when he is on the move. At times he didn’t make it to Roland Garros; it wasn’t easy for him. Surprising because he played against two greats: Yannick and Zverev. Even when he didn’t show his best game, when he didn’t hit. Every time he threw a rocket onto the court, his opponent had those problems. No matter what position he was in, he easily generated power on slow balls, something that many people sometimes have problems with. In my opinion, this is his main quality.
— Same question about Yannick. “With Yannick it is a bit different, but at the same time the same. He has quality shots. The movement is different, the ball flies differently. Yannick has powerful shots, but Carlos has even more powerful shots. Yannick started to dominate him at the end of last year in Canada, where he won his first Masters. He started to miss less. We always knew it was difficult against him, he can hit a winner from any position, but he might not hit it. Now he hits more often. It is not easy. To beat him, you have to become a winner from any position on the court. It is not easy to play against them, it is a great challenge. They are already great sporting champions. They have great careers ahead of them and they can make history.
– Who are you more afraid of, Alcaraz or Sinner? “I won’t say I’m scared, even though I lost a lot against them.” But when I play against them I’m not scared. This year we played Yannick twice, and in AO and Miami I wasn’t scared, but the results were different. If we talk about talent, although talent is not the right word, but rather quality of shots. I’ve never seen anything like Carlos. But he’s more unstable than Yannick. However, they have an excellent opponent, winning the same five-set match at Roland Garros. They have a great match, but I’ll try to make it difficult for them. I don’t like to make predictions. I have a prediction in my head about who will win more Slams and so on, but I don’t want to express it. Wait and see. Maybe when I finish my career I’ll tell you. Let’s see who will have more Slams. No, I’m just joking!
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—What do you think of your speech? — It’s hard to say, because my serve works better on hard courts. On clay and grass, sometimes I serve well, like last year in Rome, and other times it disappoints me. I think I’m fine with my serve. There have been many matches this year when my serve helped me. Even in AO in all matches it was shaky, I often lost my serve, but in every match there was a moment when I suffered a blow, for example against Zverev, when I lost 0-2 in sets, but then I never lost my serve, I won the tiebreaks. There was something similar with Ruusuvuori. It seems to me that I’m returning to my usual level. It’s not the best serve on tour, but quite good. I’m happy with that. I hope to give my best serve at the US Open and here, of course.
— What are your difficulties when serving on grass? — It is harder to hit the ball on grass because it slides across the court. Novak is very good at this, his serve slides a lot on grass, it is difficult to receive it. But my serve slides hard and my opponents find it difficult to accept it. For some reason, on grass, my serve does not slide as well as other players. I work a lot on this, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
“The US Open Cup is important to me, but if my daughter breaks it, that’s fine.”
— Marketa lost yesterday, being the defending champion. When you came to the US Open as the defending champion, what was different? — I always feel good at the US Open in general. I played against Nick, I could have won the first set, but I lost, then in the second set I felt tired. The strange thing is that I don’t usually get tired very hard. But he played well in that tournament, it was the fourth round. Yes, he could have played better, but that’s okay, it’s tennis. However, I felt good and this is the only Slam where I was the defending champion.
I didn’t see the match [Маркеты]but I heard that his opponent played well. This is always the difficulty: the opponent knows that he is playing against the current champion, on the centre court, and he will try to win. And if you don’t have the best day, you can lose.
— What has changed the most for you since winning the Grand Slam title? – It’s the same as with the Olympics. I have it now. Many great champions have reached the final many times but have not managed to win. As you always have strong opponents against you, it’s difficult, you have to win seven matches. Some win 24 Slams, others nine and some champions have never won a Slam. I’m glad that I was able to achieve this in my career, I will try to win more. I don’t know how much. I already had opportunities to do this, but it didn’t work out. I will try more. This is a very important achievement for me, I have the cup at home, I look at it and no matter what happens, I can always say that I am the US Open champion. And I am very proud of it.
—Does your daughter play with a cup? “She hasn’t shown any interest in it yet, but I will, of course, allow it.” I don’t care. These things are important to me, but if my daughter breaks them, that’s fine.
