Daniil Medvedev claims Roland Garros is ‘more open than ever before’
Daniil Medvedev has been knocked out of the Italian Open, but appears to be bigging up his chances of competing at the second major of the year.
Medvedev was the defending champion in Rome this year, but was beaten in the fourth round by Tommy Paul to continue his record of never winning the same title twice.
When speaking in his press conference after the match, Medvedev reflected on the ‘disappointing’ performance against the American, “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.
“It’s disappointing, but that’s how sport is. You lose and you go for the next tournament, which is a pretty important one.”
The state of the men’s singles draw at Roland Garros is currently up in the air, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner both struggling with injury, and the latter is reportedly planning to withdraw from the tournament.
Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic has also been struggling for form in 2024, having not reached a single final in the first five months of the year, while record 14-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal is still continuing his comeback from injury.
And Medvedev has suggested that this is all playing in his hands, “Now it’s maybe a 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.”
Daniil Medvedev's open up concerning clay ????
"I like it more now, regarding the game. But for me it's being dirty, I don't like. Locker rooms are dirty. Socks, you can throw away after clay season for sure. Like, in your car after practice it's dirty."pic.twitter.com/rLKcBgTXTw
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) May 14, 2024
The Russian’s best result at the Paris major came back in 2021 when he reached the quarter-finals, but faced a shock exit in the first round last year.
However, the world No.4 appears to be feeling more comfortable on the dirt this year, “I’m feeling much better on clay. What is tough for me on clay sometimes is getting used to conditions. Every court – in every tournament in the world – is a bit different.”
He continued, “On hard courts it’s the same: every court is different. On hard courts I have this ability to kind of quite fast get used to it. On clay, I need more time.”
Medvedev will look to achieve his best result at Roland Garros in less than two weeks time, with the tournament beginning on Sunday 26th May.
Inside the baseline…
Daniil Medvedev and clay is a very complicated relationship, and you never really know what you are going to get. However, the 28-year-old does appear to be finding more consistency on the surface and with a good draw at Roland Garros could be a threat with the current status of his rivals unclear.
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