Daniil Medvedev backed to ‘play well’ on clay by Roland Garros finalist
Daniil Medvedev has been on a great run of form since the Australian Open, and 2022 Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud has backed the Russian to continue this on the surface he has previously confessed to ‘hating’.
Medvedev has won 25 out of his last 26 matches, picking up a fifth Masters 1000 title in Miami to add to his titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.
However, his attention now turns to the clay season to which the former No.1 has previously had his public struggles with.
Even the man he beat in the Miami Open final, Jannik Sinner, joked about this in his post-match speech.
“First, congrats Daniil. Not only for this tournament but for the last 5. Playing incredible tennis. Congrats to you and obviously your team. Making an incredible job. Now the clay season starts, so let’s see how you do there.”
"Now clay season starts, so let's see how you do there" 😂@janniksin has the last laugh at the @MiamiOpen #MiamiOpen | @DaniilMedwed pic.twitter.com/e9oYDLnFto
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 2, 2023
While Ruud saw the funny side of the Italian’s speech, he does think that Medvedev could cause troubles for the rest of the tour on the dirt this year.
“It’s great to see that he stepped up and I thought the speech was funny from [Jannik] Sinner that congratulated him for this last four or five tournaments,” said Ruud.
He continued, “But now it’s clay so let’s see how you handle that because he’s maybe not as [big a] fan of clay as maybe I am.”
“He’s a player that sort of doesn’t go away. And you have to play those winners or hit those great shots or come to the net or whatever and finish the points because he’s going to be there and make you play a lot of balls. I think it’s maybe safe to say that the movement has been maybe his biggest issue on clay in the past.”
Medvedev has recently revealed that he believes that he can perform on clay, pointing to his run to the Monte Carlo semi-final in 2019 where he beat both Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Ruud commented on Medvedev’s new attitude, “I’ve read interviews where he says that he wants to develop a good movement on clay, and let’s see if it’s this year. But he has obviously had good results on clay in the past.”
“I remember when I was a little bit younger, I saw him make the semi-finals in Monte Carlo and the final in Barcelona. So obviously he has the potential to play well anywhere.”
Daniil Medvedev at Roland Garros
Despite the discussion mainly being about Medvedev’s struggle on clay, he has got to a later round at Roland Garros than Wimbledon.
Here is Medvedev’s full history at Roland Garros:
Win-loss record: 7-6 (54%)
2017: Lost in the first round to Benjamin Bonzi (wildcard), 7-5 4-6 1-6 1-3 (retired)
2018: Lost in the first round to Lucas Pouille (15), 2-6 3-6 4-6
2019: Lost in the first round to Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 6-4 6-4 3-6 2-6 5-7
2020: Lost in the first round to Marton Fucsovics, 4-6 6(3)-7 6-2 1-6
2021: Lost in the quarter-final to Stefanos Tsitsipas (5), 3-6 6(3)-7 5-7
2022: Lost in the fourth round to Marin Cilic (20), 2-6 3-6 2-6
Medvedev will begin his clay season next week when he plays at the aforementioned Monte Carlo Masters, awaiting either Lorenzo Sonego or a qualifier after receiving a bye to the second round.
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