Daniil Medvedev doesn’t accept ‘very tough’ Indian Wells courts
Daniil Medvedev has continued his winning streak, at Indian Wells, but he was not happy with the speed of the courts.
Medvedev has now won 16 consecutive matches after beating Ilya Ivashka in the third round, 6-2 3-6 6-1, and had a lot to say about the court surface at the tournament many call the ‘fifth Grand Slam’.
After losing the second set, Medvedev ranted to the umpire before taking a toilet break,“I’m gonna be as slow as this court is.”
He added, “So you can take 25 minutes. The court is slow so I go slow. I take my time.”
The Swedish umpire, Mohamed Layhani, wanted the Russian to accept the conditions but he was not having it, “I don’t accept this. They say on the fact sheet this [Indian Wells] is hard courts. This is not hard courts.”
Following his win, Medvedev continued his comments on the ‘very tough’ conditions, “[It is] Not easy to play here, for everyone.”
He continued, “I feel like there are, let’s say, 10 players that have the quality, I will not say which one, but to play good here because they have something in their game that can help them. Other than that, everyone is struggling.”
“You can see a lot of matches [are] 6-1 in one of the sets, and you look at it on TV and you’re like, the other one is not playing bad, just few moments. You miss a few shots on important moments after a 25-shot rally. That kind of was the difference between the second and third sets.”
“I cannot say I played much better in the third, but managed to be the one not missing after 25 shots. But it was more just being a little bit better on the important moments. Yeah, not easy, but not easy for everyone. I’m gonna try to continue fighting through this.”
The former No.1 will need to continue fighting when he faces Alexander Zverev in the fourth round.
The pair have met on 12 previous occasions, winning six apiece, and the Russian will want to get the better of the head-to-head if he is to reach the quarter-finals of Indian Wells for the first time.
“I think we know each other very well,” said Medvedev about the German who has recently returned from a serious ankle injury.
Medvedev continued, “Every match against such a top player is a new start. Every match he tries to adapt, I try to adapt. I remember he did very well in Turin [at the 2021 ATP Finals] to beat me. He was serving great, so that’s the key for him.”
The 2021 US Open champion implied that he was probably the favourite, with Zverev not in the same form as before he picked up his injury at Roland Garros, but was still wary of the threat that the German could pose.
“I think he’s a little bit less important here in Indian Wells, probably. But I’m sure we’re gonna have a lot of rallies, lots of rallies. It’s gonna come down to who makes, again after like 20 shots, the best shot to try to put your opponent off balance, which is not easy to do here,” claimed Medvedev.
He added, “So he’s coming back, he’s playing better and better. I think he’s not yet at where he was when he got injured, but every new match against a top player is an opportunity for him to bring back this level. So I’m gonna have to try to play my best, and postpone it for at least the next tournament.”
Medvedev and Zverev’s 13th meeting will take place on Tuesday, with a place in the Indian Wells quarter-finals on the line.
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